Cat Nap? Cat Nightmare!
by DandilionCutie
Summary: Deliylah Hayes had a mysterious past, and everybody in Lior knew it. But when the Fullmetal Alchemist comes to town, everything is flipped upside down. When her place in the town is uprooted, Deliylah begins following and helping Edward in his quest for their bodies. Perhaps her past isn't as mysterious as she meant it to be after all... (Contains OC shipping with canon characters)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, everyone, just a little writers note before you begin~**

**This is an FMA fanfic based in the Brotherhood/Manga universe with an OC insert (as you may have guessed), using my OC Deliylah Hayes. You don't know much about her right now, but I promise you'll find out a lot about her later on~ I'm also inserting another OC later on when she gets there, so sit tight.  
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****There isn't much in the way of swearing or anything like that, but I rated it K+ just in case.****

**Thanks for starting, and be sure to give me a review if you like it (Or if you don't, either way.) Enjoy!  
**

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Like any other day in the midst of Lior, Deliylah Hayes could hear people complaining about the heat sweeping through the town. Not that this day was a day like any other day, but at first it sure did feel like one to the young girl.

"It's too hot here! Who's idea was it to build a town so far South anyway," some tourist yelled to his friend. Deliylah chuckled. Having spent her whole life in the Southern region of Amestris meant that she was used to the heat. The places she had lived didn't exactly have a great way of cooling down.

An empty bucket swung at her side. Despite not being a Letoist, she found a few extra cents find their way into her pocket if she offered to clean their altar every once in a while.

Father Cornello's daily sermon could be heard ahead as she approached a shop known for its nice meals. Nothing fancy, but if you didn't see very much money in your wallet then the curbside restaurant was the place to go. The man who ran the place was one of the very few people who knew just where Deliylah came from.

"So, what are you guys, street performers or something," the man asked a young blonde boy in a red coat. Deliylah silently wondered what such a small kid was doing with such a large man dressed in armor, but she decided that it really wasn't her business to pry into other peoples lives like that.

The next thing she heard was the young kid choke on his drink. "Seriously? Do we look like street performers to you?"

"Yeah, thats why I asked. Hey, Deliylah, need some soap for Leto's altar?" The shopkeeper had turned to her, the bottle already in his hand.

"Yes, please," she answered. "And if it isn't too much trouble, a cup of tea would be nice~"

A second later a cup and a bottle of soap were in front of her. "Sure thing, ki- HEY, WATCH IT! I DIDN'T MEAN NOTHING BY IT!" Deliylah flinched when the radio which had previously been spouting 'Leto's word' came to the ground with a painfully loud crash, shattering to pieces.

'Looks like somebody is about to pay for a radio,' she thought to herself, sipping at her tea. Radio's weren't cheap.

Her cup hovered between her lips and the counter as the unknown boy spoke next. "Ah, don't worry, we'll fix it."

"How're you gonna do that, it's smashed to hell!"

"Watch and learn, gramps."

Deliylah knew of very few ways a radio could be fixed, and she didn't like the biggest possibility. Sure enough, the large suit of armor took out a piece of simple white chalk and drew a very familiar and unwelcome circle around the broken pieces of what used to be a radio. A moment and a flash of light later the radio was back in one piece, and from it Father Cornello's voice could be heard. Deliylah took a deep breath and placed her teacup back at her lips. One simple act of alchemy was nothing-

"Then maybe you know us! We're the Elric brothers!"

"Oh, yeah, I know you! You're the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"

SMASH.

Deliylah gasped as warm tea splashed onto her ankles. Her hands shook as she scrambled to grab the pieces of the now shattered teacup that had slipped from her gloved fingers. With a name like that it could mean one thing. Simple alchemy was one thing, but Deliylah had felt almost nothing but misery because of state alchemists. They may have saved her life, but they also ruined it.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll clean it up right away… I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was doing…," she stuttered. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the blonde boy grappling with several terrified men. When had a fight broken out? It the midst of the chaos she could hear the boy who had been calm a moment earlier screeching something about 'not calling him short.' The armored one, on the other hand, had heard the cup smash and was now leaning over to help her.

"Are you alright, miss?" His voice sounded much higher than what she had been expecting. It almost sounded like a child was in the armor instead of what she assumed to be a full grown man.

"I-I'm fine. I'm sorry about the cup, you can add it to my tab… I-I need to go, I'm sorry, I'll pay later!" She snatched the bucket and soap and turned to race off to the church, but before she could take two steps she reared back. She had come an inch away from colliding straight into a young woman only a few years older than herself, who was 17, Rose Thomas.

"My, things sure seem lively today, huh? Oh, hey Deliylah, I didn't see you there. You alright?"

"Uh, yes, I'm fine, thank you, Rose. A-Are you coming to the church later?"

"Yes, I am. You know, with how much you clean the altar you should consider-"

Deliylah cut her off, knowing full well what she was about to say. "I know you mean well, Rose, but people of my religion don't give it up that easily, especially to somebody like the 'Sun God Leto.'" She shifted the weight of the bucket in her hands and quickly bid Rose goodbye with a nod of her head and rushed off in the direction of the church, wanting to get away from the stranger alchemists as soon as she could.

When she had gained a few blocks between herself and she shop, she allowed herself to slow down a bit. Moving the metal bucket into one hand, she subconsciously combed her bangs over her eye, making sure it was covering any brown skin on the half of her face that had retained it's pigment. She stopped in a window to make sure that her face really was hidden before walked back out in the open.

Several minutes later she had managed to catch her breath and had made it through the front doors of the church of Leto. After filling the bucket with room temperature water and grabbing a clean rag, she began to do her job, scrubbing wax and dust from the altar in front of the large statue depicting the Great Sun God Leto. However, not three minutes later she heard the door open and turned to see familiar pink bangs heading her way.

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**Next Chapter will have a bit more of Deliylah's emotions towards alchemists. I think her big secret is going to be saved for Chapter 3, but don't worry, it's on it's way~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back~! There isn't any action here, but there is a bit of yelling. Just a taste. Enjoy~!**

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"Hi, Rose!"

"Hey, Deliylah! Are you ok? You seemed a little stressed out back at the shop."

"… I saw a state alchemist."

"Oh, dear! They didn't do anything to hurt you, did they?"

Deliylah shook her head. "No, I don't think they knew. In fact, come to think of it I don't think they were old enough to have even been involved in that war…" Her words trailed off as her mind drifted into old memories of her homeland. Lior was similar to the rolling dusty hills in a way that is was quite dry, although not entirely fruitless. Like her old lands, Lior had given way to strong religious beliefs, and ever since she had wandered in a few years ago, Rose and the others were constantly trying to convert her.

A small cough caught her attention. "Ah, sorry Rose, was there something you needed?"

"Not really. I was just going to pray for a minute, if that's alright."

"Of course, I'll try not to distract you." Deliylah knew exactly what Rose was praying for, and although she knew even Cornello could never bring the dead back to life, she recognized the hope the obviously fake religion brought to the town, so she kept her mouth shut.

She instead resumed her work in cleaning the altar as Rose got on her knees in front of it and clasped her hands together. Deliylah could hear faint murmurs saying "Please bring him back, please bring my darling back…" A fresh wave of pity washed through her. She had known Rose's boyfriend, although not very well, and knew that he was a kind and gentle soul who was generous and hardworking. That dedication was, unfortunately, the causation of his passing in the accident last year. It had left Rose with nothing but her own grief. Until of course Cornello showed up and-

Deliylah stopped mid thought as the doors once again creaked open. Rose still sat kneeling on the floor deep in her prayers, unaware of the newcomers, but when Deliylah turned to see who had come to visit, her heart skipped a beat and she almost knocked over her bucket of soapy water.

The same alchemists from before, the young blonde boy and the large man donning a suit of armor, were walking up the aisle on their way to the altar, looking around at the high ceiling and tall pillars and eventually the large statue. "So, this is the great god Leto, huh?"

Deliylah turned back to the altar, scrubbing as a particularly tough piece of wax stuck to the stone. 'If I pretend they aren't there, they'll go away.' She repeatedly thought to herself.

"Oh, hello. Are you interested in Letoism?"

"Can't say I am. I'm not really the religious type."

'No, alchemists never are, are they...' She kept thinking to herself.

Rose sighed. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. To know God is to know hope. We believe in divine grace, and through him all things are possible If you had faith… I'm sure Leto would bless you and make you grow taller!"

At this Deliylah looked up. "Rose, please," she murmured quietly.

Rose's words seemed to have made him about as angry as he was been at the shop. Apparently he didn't like being called small. Deliylah could only have guessed that the customers there had called him something along the lines of tiny.

He let out an angry huff and sat down on one of the wooden pews. "And what about bringing the dead back to life? Do you believe he can do that, too?"

Rose paused a moment before answering. "Yes, I do."

Deliylah sighed softly. Even she knew that the dead would never come back to life. And apparently he knew that too, because the next thing he did was take out a book and begin reading out loud, reciting a list of complicated chemicals. When he finished he snapped the book shut.

"That's the entire chemical makeup of the human body. It's been calculated and recalculated down to the last micro-gram, and still there's never been a single successful case of human transmutation. You're saying something modern science can't do you can do with prayer?" He finished his question with a hint of anger in his voice, looking up and staring Rose right in the eyes. He seemed genuinely disturbed that she would even think such a thing.

"Lift thy voice to god, and the prayers of the faithful shall be answered!" She retorted by preaching Leto's word. Deliylah rolled her eyes just out of view and turned back to the altar.

What he said next, however, made her freeze. "Did I mention all those ingredients I read off, down at the market a kid could buy every one of them with the spare change in his pocket. If you consider that, humans are pretty cheap~" Deliylahs hands twisted the rag in annoyance. How insulting!

And apparently Rose thought so too. "What blasphemy... People, where all all children of God, created in his image!"

He chuckled. "You have to understand, alchemists are scientists, we don't believe in unprovable concepts like Creators or Gods. We observe in the physical laws that govern this world, and try to learn the truth. It's ironic really, but through the application of science we've be given the power to play god's ourselves." At those words Deliylah whirled around, a look of sheer shock donning her face.

"So you're putting yourself on the same level as god? That's just… sheer arrogance!"

He looked at his feet, a sad grin on his lips. "You know, there's an old saying about a hero on wings out of wax. He thought he could touch the sun, but when he got too close, his wings melted and he came crashing back down to Earth. Right Al?" He glanced at the man in the suit of armor, who nodded softly.

By that time Deliylah had practically grown livid with his talk about being on the same plane as God. She threw down her rag and stormed up to him. "If you're so full of yourself, why don't you alchemists use your 'godly powers' for something good for a change!"

"Wha-"

"Deliylah…" Rose murmured softly. She had told her all about the atrocities the state alchemists had performed in Ishval, although she never really told her about what Ishvalans thought about alchemy. She didn't want to ruin a part of the world for Rose like that.

"Alchemists are supposed to be for the people, but from what I've seen you've done nothing but bring war and suffering! My whole childhood I respected alchemists, and then you betrayed us! You talk about being gods but you're nothing but a bunch of devils who use and abuse your power for your own selfish needs!" Deliylah clenched her fists in anger, but her rage was starting to burn off. She began to feel guilty for shouting, and she hung her head, turning and picking up the bucket she wasn't aware she had kicked over with shaking hands.

She expected the alchemist to argue, but he kept his silence. Instead he sat for a few moments staring at her in confusion, then gathered himself and stood up rather suddenly. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but do you think your Father Cornello could save even an arrogant scientist like me?"

Rose clasped her hands together in joy. "Of course, that's wonderful! If anybody can lead you to the creators light, he can!" Her anger at his arrogance was gone, replaced with happiness at his 'change of heart.'

'I doubt he's seeing Father for guidance to God.'

"Deliylah, you should come too, maybe you'll change your mind!" Deliylah sighed.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to join you. I don't have anything else to do, and my job here is done…"

After the brothers put in their request to see the Father, they sat outside the meeting hall, waiting for him to either accept or deny. Meanwhile, the armored man found a moment to talk to Deliylah.

"I'm sorry about my brother, he can get really rude sometimes. You're the girl who dropped her cup at the restaurant right?" Deliylah nodded. "I thought so… if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened to you to make you hate alchemy so much?"

"Actually, no offense but… I kind of do mind."

"Oh, sorry…"

Deliylah sighed. "It's fine, I just… if word got out to the military about it, I'd be dead for sure."

"Huh?"

"...nevermind."

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**Big revealing next time~! Well, one of a few anyway. It goes from anime to mange when Cray attacks the brothers, so in case you're confused that's why. Sorry, this chapter may have been a bit boring, but I'll hopefully have a better one next chapter~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took a while, I got a bit blocked near the end. But it's here now, so don't worry! Also, congrats to the Guest who left a review, you were right~! Finally, the big revealing about who she is~ Enjoy~!**

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After about 10 minutes, Brother Cray came out and announced that Father was ready to see them. "His Holiness is very busy, so it's not easy to get an audience with him. You two are very lucky."

"I'll try not to talk for too long." Edward seemed chipper enough. However, a chill ran up Deliylah's spine, like something was about to go wrong.

"Then lets end it right away, like this!" Suddenly Brother Cray took out a gun, a small revolver, and pointed it directly at Alphonse's head. Deliylah cried out to warn him, but her words were drowned out by the sound of a bullet hitting metal and the ringing of a helmet hitting the stone floor. Two men blocked off Edwards path with their staffs.

Deliylah grabbed onto Rose's elbow, recoiling at the painfully loud noise. Rose turned to Cray in shock. "Brother Cray, what are you doing?"

"Rose, these heathens were trying to entrap his Holiness. They're evil."

"What?! But his Holiness would never let you do this… let you..."

"But he did allow it! The word of his Holiness are the words of God. This is the will of God!" He finished his sentence by aiming his gun at Edward.

He couldn't fire, however, because his aim was blocked by an armored hand. "I guess there are really some bad God's out there."

Deliylah and Rose froze in terror. Alphonse's head had been blown clean off and yet he still stood, and what's more, he seemed to have no body whatsoever!

Fists and bodies flew, and by the end of it Brother Cray and the two guardsmen who had gone after Edward were sprawled on the floor, out like a light.

Rose began shaking, pointing a trembling finger at Alphonse's empty body. "Wh-Wha-What's- h-he's empty!"

"Nothing special."

"It's just what it looks like." Alphonse leaned over, revealing a completely empty suit of armor with what looked like an alchemic rune drawn in some sort of red paint. A few seconds of staring and Deliylah realized that it wasn't paint, it was blood.

"Th-There's nothing inside! How-?"

"...this is what happens when you commit the greatest sin… when you trespass in God's domain… my brother and I..."

"Edward, you too?" He was facing away from the two girls, but Deliylah could tell that he wasn't very comfortable with the topic.

"Well, lets just save that story for another time… anyway, I guess your God showed his true colors."

Rose looked around at the beaten men around her. "No, there has to be some kind of mistake!" Edward let out an annoyed grunt and mumbled something under his breath.

"What about you, Deliylah? What do you think about 'his phoniness?'" Deliylah kept silent for a moment.

"I-I'm not sure what to think. I won't say that this isn't Father Cornello's doing, but if Brother Cray was doing this on his own then it would be insulting to even try to accuse the Father of attempting to kill you. I think we need to see the Father himself."

"But Deliylah, there's just no way that Father Cornello would do something like this!"

Edward sighed. "Rose, do you have the courage to face the truth?"

A few minutes later Rose and Deliylah had managed to stuff themselves into the empty torso of Al's armor. Although it was efficient when it came to spying, it wasn't top notch in comfort. Deliylah banged her head on either the metal wall of Al's chest or on Rose's own forehead.

She heard doors creak open, and then the faint sound of Cornello's voice greeting the brothers from what was probably the second level in the large meeting hall.

"Welcome to the great church of Leto. Have you come to hear me preach?"

"Yeah, by all means, teach us, like how you use your lame alchemy to deceive your followers!"

"Well, I have no idea what you are talking about. Please to do not confuse my miracles with alchemy. If you saw for yourself you'd believe-"

"Yeah, I've seen it alright. And I couldn't understand how you're able to do transmutation that goes against the laws."

"As I said, it isn't alchemy-"

"Then it came to me. The Philosophers Stone. That's how you do it, right? Like maybe… just maybe… it's that ring?"

There was a pause before Cornello's tone changed from friendly to somewhat malicious. "Heh, the government gets their money's worth you of you, don't they? I guess you saw through the whole thing. Correct!" Rose let out the tiniest gasp, and Deliylah placed a finger to her lips. If they wanted more information, they needed to keep quiet. "The Philosophers Stone, the legendary catalyst, the amplifier of all alchemical process. With this, I can conjure at the minimum price with the maximum result."

"How I've searched for that…" The envy in Edwards voice concerned Deliylah. Exactly how long had he been looking for it?

"Ha! What's with the jealous look in your eyes? What would you want the Stone for? Money? Honor?"

"And what about you? What do you get out of founding this phony religion? If it's money you want you can make as much as you want with the Stone."

"It isn't about the money… well, I do what that, but I can get as much of that as I need in the form of donations from my flock. What I really need are followers who will happily give their lives for me."

Now Deliylah was the one to gasp. Luckily Alphonse let out the tiniest gasp of his own, so hers was somewhat covered.

"Think about it! An invincible army of fanatics with no fear of death! Soon I'll have more than enough people! Just watch, within a few years time this entire nation will be mine!" He began laughing maniacally. From what Deliylah could see in the low light, Rose's eyes were wide with dismay.

Edward however, seemed bored. "Well, fine, but I don't really care about that, let's move on." He muttered just loud enough for everybody in the room to hear.

"What?! Don't belittle my ambition by saying that you 'don't care!' You'd better care! You're a member of the military, after all!"

"You know, to be honest, I really couldn't care what happens to my country or the military. I'll be blunt. Give me the Philosophers Stone! If you do that I'll stay quiet about the scan you've been pulling on everybody."

"Hmph, are you trying to bargain with me? My followers would never believe the words of an outsider like you! The people of this town love me! They think that my words come from God! Those idiots will believe anything I tell them! I've completely fooled them!"

Ed clapped his hands together. "Wow! You are smart! Thanks for telling us how you do it."

"You're right, they won't believe a word I say, but…" Deliylah heard the straps keeping Al's chestplate in place snap apart. "But what about their words?"

Light flooded the cavity where Deliylah and Rose had stuffed themselves. Both looked out into the hall and locked eyes with Father Cornello. "R-Rose?! Deliylah?! What is the meaning of this?!"

Rose jerked herself out of Al's body, accidentally shoving Deliylah aside roughly. "Father! Is what you said just now true? Were you fooling us this whole time? Your miracles aren't real? The power of God can't grant my wish? You can't bring my darling back again?!"

Deliylah managed to clamber out of the armor a little more carefully, apologizing to Alphonse.

Father Cornello gave Rose a suspicious look. "Hm… It's true that I am not god's emissary, but with the power of the Philosophers Stone, I can do what other alchemists cannot. Rose, I will resurrect him! I am the only one who can grant you your wish. Remember your beloved! Be a good girl and come here, both of you." He motioned towards both Rose and Deliylah.

Al shouted a warning to her, which Ed finished. "If you go, you can never turn back!" Even Deliylah protested.

Despite their objections, however, Rose obediently walked over and stood by the Fathers side. "I'm sorry… but this is the only thing I can do."

Father Cornello smiled in satisfaction. "Good child… you two Deliylah, come here my young one. You may not follow the ways of Leto, but you are still one of us."

Deliylah, however, remained firmly still. "I am not. I've heard enough, Father. Letoism is fake, just as I thought."

"Just as the military thought that your religion was fake?"

Deliylah glared at the Father, rage beginning to boil. "Don't you dare…" If he dared to say the name out loud, especially in front of a State Alchemist, it would be all over.

He grinned. "After they wiped out your people in that once great nation, after they sent alchemists to take your holy land away from you, you came fleeing to Lior, and I took you in. You owe me a debt, Ishvalan." She flinched. Now he'd done it.

Edward glanced her way. "What did he just say?"

She sighed and closed her eyes, then slowly pulled her bangs away from her face like a curtain, revealing the brown skin that she hid behind it. "I may not look it, Edward… but I was born, raised, and nearly killed in the land of Ishval. That's why I don't like alchemy, and why I hate State Alchemists. The slaughtered my people and obliterated my homeland. And when they took me in with my strange skin not seen in other Ishvalans, after promising me safety and a home, they threw me aside, just another dirty Ishvalan girl. I managed to hide myself my dying my hair and covering what little brown skin I had left with clothing and makeup." She opened her eyes and looked directing into Edwards golden ones. He gasped lightly when confronted with the vibrant red iris of her right eye.

"But… if you're Ishvalan, how come you have white skin?" Edward asked, partially curious and partially wary.

"Brother!" Al cried out, warning Edward not to delve too deep into her past, but Deliylah shook her head.

"It's alright, Alphonse. I was born with a very rare skin condition that destroys the pigment in my skin and left eye. I was an outcast for many years amongst my people because I looked like the 'Amestrian dogs' who had betrayed us. My own parents nearly threw me out because they thought I was cursed. How ironic that I was the only one of my village to survive the genocide." She chuckled softly, although not finding what she had said remotely funny.

"Enough of this chatter. Deliylah, come here at once!" Father Cornello interrupted.

"I said no! You can take your phony god and do whatever you want, I'm not going to obey you any longer! I've had enough of lies and deceit!" She yelled back.

"... fine. Then you can be purged along with the rest of the heretics that stand before me." He reached back and pulled a lever. "And I believe my chimera is up to the task." Deliylah turned to see a large, ferocious creature come from the shadows. From what she could see, he had mixed a lion, and some sort of reptile or bird to create a deadly chimera.

"So that's the sort of thing you do with the Philosophers Stone? That's just twisted." Ed sighed. "Well, I guess I'm gonna need a weapon." He clapped his hands together and crouched towards the ground. Blue light from the transmutation lit up the room like a lightning storm. What surprised Deliylah the most was the lack of a transmutation circle. She hadn't seen one on Edwards gloves, and if they were tattooed onto his hands he would had to have to removed his gloves first. From his hands a ornate spear was molded out of the stone of the floor, which he branded with skill.

Cornello gasped. "No transmutation circle? So the State Alchemist title isn't just for show, you truly are gifted! However…" The chimera charged forward, striking with one clawed paw. The spear instantly shattered like glass, and both Rose and Deliylah cried out. "Your little spear is no match for chimera claws that can tear through iron!"

Deliylah expected Edward to hit the ground screaming in pain and covered in blood, but instead a wide grin spread across his face. "He shredded my pants~!" The chimera whined when the claws on the paw it used to strike then broke off in a rather comedic fashion. Ed's foot them came up and clipped the chimeras jaw, sending it flying. The light from lamps around the room glinted off metal, and Deliylah gasped when she realized that Edwards leg wasn't flesh, it was prosthetic. "I guess those claws don't work so well against steel!"

"Bite him, you stupid beast!" Cornello ordered the chimera, and it once again threw himself at Edward, wrapping his jaws around the arm he threw up to protect himself. The chimera chewed for a few moments before whining in confusion. Its teeth were doing nothing.

"You like that, kitty? Go on, get a good _taste_!" His leg once again came up and struck the chimera, crushing its jaw and knocking it to the ground and effectively killing it with the sheer force of the blow.

Pieces of fabric flew every which way. One of Ed's gloves had been shredded by the chimeras remaining claws, and Deliylah could faintly make out bolts and metal plates where knuckles and fingers should have been. He gripped at the torn coat and shirt and began pulling, filling the room with the sounds of tearing material.

"Look at me, Rose. This is what happens to people who "play God" or whatever you want to call it. Take a good look Rose. Is this what you want?" All the playfulness had left Edwards voice. Now Deliylah could only hear pure humorless warning. Rose's hands flew to her mouth.

The remains of what had once been Edwards red coat slipped from metal fingers and fell to the floor. An automail arm extended all the way to his shoulder where scars spread across his chest. "Automail… full steel prosthetics… "Fullmetal", I see, so that's why… that's why a brat like you is called the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

"Come down here and face me, you third-rate fraud! I'll show you there's no comparison between us!" He held up his arm menacingly, as if it was going to fly off and punch Cornello straight in the face.

Cornello, however, grinned at the sight. "I see, it's all becoming clear now. You did it, didn't you? The one thing even the most novice alchemist knows is strictly forbidden! Rose, this is the price of their sin. These fools attempted human transmutation, the greatest taboo for any alchemist. In their arrogance, they tried to bring someone dead back to life!"

As these words left Cornellos mouth, Deliylah could see Rose's eyes grow wider and wider with realization. If bringing somebody back from the dead was forbidden by alchemical law, then how was Cornello supposed to bring Rose's boyfriend back from Gods arms?

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**To anybody confused, Deliylah is an Ishvalan with a skin condition know today as Vitiligo. It destroys the pigment in some of her skin, and allows her to, with some work, hide in plain sight. She dyes her hair a normal shade of brown (because a 17 year old girl with white hair is kind of a giveaway), wears very covering clothes, covers half her face with hair and whatever she can't cover with makeup.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have about 16 of the chapters spanning over about 6 volumes planned out, so I should be writing a lot soon~ This chapter was a bit longer than the others, but super fun/kinda difficult to write. Writing alongside the manga was tough, especially if I didn't have the physical book right in front of me. Anyway, see you next chapter~!**

**PS, Another OC is gonna be introduced at the end of next one, so get ready~**


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey, welcome back~! Sorry about the wait, it was midterm week and I didn't have much time to write. But it's here now, so enjoy~!_

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Alphonse's voice took Deliylah by surprise. She had almost forgotten that he was behind her. She jumped a bit, taking a step forward in Ed's direction. "We never had any doubts about doing it. Our mother was so kind, the kindest person in the world. All we wanted to just to see our mother's smile again. Even if it meant breaking the laws of alchemy. That was the only reason we were studying it, after all. But the resurrection failed. When it failed, my brother lost his left leg, and I had my whole body taken. I lost consciousness for a while. The next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was this armor body and a sea of blood." Deliylah swallowed to stop herself from retching at the thought. "Even after the horrible injury if losing his left leg, my older brother exchanged his right arm for my soul, putting it in this suit of armor."

Then Ed spoke. "Heh, the two of us tried to resurrect one person, and this is what happened. This is what it takes to raise the dead, Rose. Are you ready to make that sacrifice!?

"Keh, so this is the great Fullmetal Alchemist. Not even half a man. Hell, not even half a boy!"

The statement enraged Ed. "And what are you?! Just a phony who can't do anything without a Philosophers Stone!"

"Please, Father, we just want you to hand over the Stone before anybody else gets hurt."

"Don't be absurd! Why, so you can use it for yourselves? Please, if you fools are really so eager to play God, then perhaps I should send you to meet him, instead!" He brought the lower half of his his cane up and gripped it tightly as if somebody was about to take it away from him.

Then bright red light sparked from his ring and the cane turned into a very large and very deadly looking machine gun. He aimed at Edward and opened fire. Unfortunately for her, Deliylah happened to be standing directly behind him.

Edward glanced back at her sharply and then quickly crouched to the ground. With bullets incoming, she did the same, and a moment later found herself in the shadow of a wall that Ed had transmuted in front of them. "Nah, you see, me and God don't get along too well. Even if I went, he'd probably just send me right back here~" His voice was dripping with both sarcasm and amusement.

Next, Cornello turned his eyes to Alphonse, who had picked up Rose was was starting to make his way to the exit. Cornello let loose a shower of bullets, which either missed or ricocheted off Al's armor back. Even though she was protected, Rose let out a scream and curled up in Al's arms.

"This way," Ed hollered to the three of them.

"The doors rigged, only Cornello can open it!"

"Oh really? Well, as I always say, if you can't find a door, make one instead!" A moment and a transmutation later a large, ornate door made with rather bad taste swung open. Deliylah raced behind Ed and Al as fast as her skirt would let her. Behind them she could hear Cornello ordering the Brothers to chase them, and she ran a little faster.

Down the way they were going, however, was just as bad as the way back. A group of Brothers stood at the end of the hall, each of them trained in basic martial arts and each of them brandishing staffs. The men smirked when they saw how tiny Ed was.

"That's far enough~" One said.

"What are you gonna do, little runt, you're unarmed an outnumbered." Another one said.

"Look, just come quietly, we don't want to rough you up, kid."

That didn't phase Edward. He simply performed a transmutation on his arm and turned it into a very sharp blade. The next moment the men were scrambling over each other to get out of the way. Alphonse, still carrying Rose in his arms rushed past, apologizing after kicking a man dead in the face.

With the Brothers behind them, Ed, Al, Rose, and Deliylah all raced down the hall and out of the church. When passing one room, Ed stopped and backtracked. "Huh? What's this?"

Al finally put Rose down, and after readjusting her skirt, she answered him. "The broadcasting room. This is where Father Cornello delivers his sermons over the radio."

"Oh really~?" Ed smirked, putting a hand to his chin. Deliylah could almost see gears turning in his head. Al sighed. "Al, I have an idea~ If I can lure "His Phoniness" in here, I might be able to get him to talk. If you transmute the big bell from the tower into a broadcaster, we can reveal it all to the whole town."

"But we already know, can't we just tell them? Like you said, they won't listen to you, but Rose is a member of the church and I'm pretty well known in the community," Deliylah piped up. However, Edward shook his head.

"I don't think one misguided follower and an Ishvalan who scrubs the altar are gonna do much. But if Cornello _himself_ says so, then they'll have no choice but to believe," Ed explained.

Deliylah nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. Is there anything I can do?"

"If you go with Al, you and Rose can lead him up to the belltower."

"Alright," she said, surprising herself with her own confidence. Perhaps she had been wanting to expose his falsehood for longer than she had thought. She led the armor through a largely unused staircase and up to the ledge under where the bell was. He leapt up, snatching the bell from its hanging place and jumping back down just before the six o'clock bell ringer reached the last step into the tower. Even from down on the ledge, Deliylah could hear the man's gasp of astonishment.

While setting down the bell on the ground and drawing the transmutation circle, Alphonse explained what he was doing. "I'm changing the radio into a loudspeaker, since they have similar components and are roughly the same size. Do you know what this bell's made of?"

"Last time I checked, it was iron," Deliylah answered.

"Why do you need to know that," Rose asked.

"Well, alchemy is the basis of understanding, deconstruction, and then reconstruction. If I don't know what the bell is made of, then I can't deconstruct it or reconstruct it into what I need. I also can't make a small object into something big enough to broadcast Ed and Cornello's voices to the whole town. Alchemy is also based on the principle of equivalent exchange." Al explained. Deliylah understood the basics of what he was saying, but Rose seemed confused.

"I can't believe you have to do all that just to perform alchemy…"

"I told you, the foundation of alchemy is the equivalent exchange. 'To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.' People call my brother a genius, but the reason he's so good at alchemy is because he paid the price… and worked so hard."

Rose gave a halfhearted, breathy laugh. "But because you sacrificed so much, you must have been able to bring your mother back…"

If Alphonse had a face, it would have darkened. Despite the fact that he only had a steel helmet for a head, Deliylah could almost see the melancholy, as if he were remembering a horrible old memory. His hands stopped attaching a wire to the now

"The thing we brought back wasn't even human anymore."

Deliylah and Rose gasped. "But that… that's not fair..." Deliylah whispered.

"Life and death are a part of the flow of the world. We've given up on transmuting humans, but my brother still wants to get me my original body. I'd like to make my brother's body the way it was, too. But like I said before, the risks are high. We might even get killed along the way. That's just how it is." He stood up and looked Rose directly in the eyes. "Rose, that's why you can't choose this path."

Both were silent for a moment. Then all three jumped when static came from what was now a speaker. "Yo, Al, if you can hear me, I can hear his footsteps. Get ready."

"Showtime, I guess." He hauled the speaker onto his shoulder as the sound of approaching footsteps came from it.

"You little runt, you're not getting away!" Cornello had obviously been running for some time. He sounded out of breath and flustered.

"Just give up, will you? New of your trickery will spread throughout the the town in no time anyway." Edward sounded almost bored.

"Shut up! Everyone within the church in under my direct control! They'd never believe a stupid follower if she contradicted me, and that Ishvalan brat Deliylah isn't even in the order!" Deliylah gasped in horror, her hands flying to her mouth.

"He just… the microphone's on… he just told the whole town that I'm Ishvalan! I know people who hate Ishvalans, I'll be run out of town for sure!" She collapsed to the ground, her realization running laps in her head.

She thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Cornello laughing madly. "Did you think you could stop my plans so easily!? You underestimated the power or blind faith!"

At these words, Edward started laughing as well. "What? What's so funny?" Cornello obviously had no idea that he was on air.

"This is why I keep saying you're third rate, baldy. Know what this is?"

And then he did.

"You… you couldn't have….. YOU LITTLE RAT!" Deliylah flinched as Cornello screamed into the microphone. By now the entire town was silent, listening to what they had just hear Cornello himself say over the radio. "Ho-How long?! How long has that been on?!"

"The whole time~ You just exposed your entire plan to the entire town. All of your 'mindless fanatics.' So much for blind faith~" He almost seemed to be enjoying tearing Cornello apart.

Suddenly, transmission cut out after loud crashes and something about Cornello wanting to kill Edward were heard before static, saying that either the off button had been pushed, or the wire connecting the speaker had been cut. Sure enough, Alphonse tugged the wire, feeling slack and eventually pulling up a ragged end.

Rose turned to Deliylah. "Are you… are you alright?" She was trembling, and a look of loss adorned her face.

"I don't know… the town will drive me out for sure… somebody will call the military… I can't stay here…."

Her words were cut off by what felt like an earthquake. "What is that?" A shadow fell over them, and Deliylah's question was answered by a huge statue of Leto breaking through the ceiling. She could faintly hear Edward scream "FEEL THE IRON BLOW OF GOD'S WRATH" before another loud crash shook the ground at their feet again.

"We should see if he's alright…" Al commented softly.

When the three got through what was left of the doors, they were greeted with the sight of a large stone fist having apparently punted Cornello to the ground, where he still lay in shock. Where his arm had been before, a twisted form of flesh and metal now came from his shoulder; Deliylah could barely make out fingers from wires.

Sitting off the the side, a rather exasperated looking Edward waved to them with a glum expression on his face.

"Did you get the Stone?"

Ed hung his head. "No… I'm sorry, Alphonse. It shattered as soon as it hit the ground." His voice was sewn with defeat.

"It was a fake?" Alphonse inquired.

Edward nodded. "Yeah, just like him. It was all a waste of time. Just when I thought we were about to get your old body back…"

Alphonse gave a half hearted chuckle. "We need to worry about you first. Automail has a lot of problems."

Edward sighed and stood up. "Well, I guess we'll have to look somewhere else, then. Back on the road…"

His attention was caught by Rose's knees hitting the floor. "But… there must be some mistake, I mean… they told me he would come back to life… they promised me… they said he would come back…" Deliylah crouched by her, placing a hand on her trembling back. "What do I do now? What am I supposed to believe in? Are you going to tell me?" She looked up at Edward. Tears were streaming down her face, dripping from her chin onto the broken stone floor. "Well?! Are you?!," she scream her question, hysteria creeping into her voice.

"You need to figure that on your own." Deliylah glanced up at Edward as he walked by. "Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You have two strong legs, so use them."

Deliylah contemplated her options. She could either stay and face ridicule from the town and possibly the military, or she could run, go somewhere else and start a new life with people who either didn't know who she was or didn't care. Her best chance at her second option was walking away. She had a split second decision to make.

And she made it. She stood up and ran towards the boy's retreating forms. "Edward, Alphonse, wait!" They stopped and turned around. She stopped just before them and took a deep breath. "I… I know this isn't really appropriate of me to ask… but is it alright if I traveled with you?" She explained herself when Edward raised an eyebrow. "I don't have anywhere else to go. My lodgings and source of income were provided by the Church. Now that it's been torn apart, I don't have anything. Besides... I'd like to help you complete your goal."

Edward stared at the girl for a moment, wondering whether or not to let her come along. Glancing at his brother, who nodded, he shrugged. "The more the merrier, right? Go get your things and meet us at the train station. We're leaving for Youswell tonight."

Deliylah smiled. "Thank you so much~" She raced off to where what remained of her room was in the broken Church, throwing what she had, her clothes, makeup, and one book, into a suitcase. After thoroughly checking that she had everything she needed, she left a note on her pillow for Rose, telling her where she was. Then she headed out the door for one last time before meeting the brothers at the station.

"You ready? You know you won't be coming back here."

She nodded. "Yes, I've got everything."

He smiled softly. "Alright, lets go, the train's here."

"Ok!"

Meanwhile, in the dark meeting room, a two women, one beautiful and curvy and one thin and wiry, and a rather large man munching on what remained of a chimera waited for one other.

"Do you think he'll be here, Lust?"

"He won't have anywhere else to go but here. Don't worry about it."

"What if he turns his back on us?"

"Then we will have to eliminate him."

"If you say so…"

Lust chuckled softly. "You say that a lot, don't you?"

"Every damn day. You and Envy make all the plans, all I do is worry about them and help carry them out."  
At that moment, and older and injured man staggered into the room, muttering. A sinister smile played on Lusts full lips.

"I can't believe that runt ruined my plans... I wont allow it… I've invested too much in this to let it fall apart..."

"Really, you were so close, and now everything's ruined." The older man flinched and looked up when Lust spoke.

"Long time no see. Wish it was longer," the second woman jeered.

"You've caused a lot of trouble, Your Holiness."

Cornellos face contorted with anger. Sweat dripped from his chin. "Wh-What is the meaning of this? The Stone you gave me broke into pieces! How dare you give me a fake?!"

Lust scoffed. "Please, like we would give the real thing to someone like you."

"You… You said I could take over the country with the Stone."

"Hm, I did say something like that, didn't I? All we wanted for you was to cause a little trouble in this region. Thats all." She snickered. "What? You look surprised!"

The second woman scoffed. "Did you really think a third-rate despot like you could become ruler of a country? You really are too much!"

The larger man sitting on the ground threw away the chimera leg he was munching on. "Lust, can I eat the old man? He's big and fat!"

"Not this one, Gluttony, we don't want to give you indigestion. If you eat this third-rate… no, this fourth-rate fool…"

Cornello finally had enough and cried out in fury, lunging at the women. "Now you, too? Everybody's mocking me! I won't stand for it, I-"

His sentence was cut off with a spurt of blood. Lusts finger extended into a deadly spear, piercing his forehead and erupting out the other side. "You are no longer of any use~" His eyes rolled back into his head, his entire body twitching oddly.

Lust pulled away, her finger retracting from his skull trailing blood and brain matter. A loud thud echoed in the room as he collapsed to the floor, his face smacking the stone. Lust turned her back, uncaring about the fact that she had just murdered somebody. She then sighed, as if somebody had splashed mud on her boots. "Aww, and things were starting to go so well. Father will be furious. So what should our next plan be?"

The second woman shrugged. "I can call in a favor from our favorite shapeshifter? Nobody saw you kill third-rate here, we can just replace him."

"Whatever you say, Jealousy- _Hey, I thought I told you not to eat that_."

* * *

_Thanks for reading! I hope I can update faster next time since midterms are over now._  
_Also, new homunculus! I have to admit, I may have made both Jealousy and Deliylah (Dafne at the time) when I was 12, but I recently revamped them. I didn't really have the heart to change Jealousy's name since it really fit her new personality and new history, so I kept it. I also wrote how she became a homunculus, should I post it?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Ooooooh my word I'm so sorry this is like tow months late. I've been really busy with school and I've had such a writers block I haven't been in the mood to write!  
But I have a new chapter out now, and hopefully I'll get the other half of Youswell done soon. I've also decided that I'm just gonna go with the manga, it's easier to follow than a mix of manga and anime. Sorry for any confusion earlier~!  
Enjoy~!**

* * *

The scenery blurred by with each chug of the train. Deliylah craned her neck around Alphonse, wide eyed and enthralled at the world outside. She had never been this far East, or this far North. Edward was just going to have to deal with her childish fascination of train rides.

Edward didn't mind, of course. He knew that, as a young Ishvalan, her life mustn't of been very comfortable. He doubted that she had ever even been on a train before. His attention went from the girl to his brother when he spoke.

"Looks like we're the only one's on board, brother."

He nodded. "I've heard the rumors, but I didn't know it was this bad. Guess this isn't exactly tourist country…" He picked up his map, looking closely at it. "The town on the Eastern Border… the Youswell coal mines..."

Deliylah pulled her eyes from the window. "Are you here on orders?"

"Mhm. We've heard a few complains, so Colonel Mustang's sent us out here to inspect it."

She furrowed her brows at the sound of the name. 'Where have I heard that before...' Before she could think of a reason, a whistle sounded, quiet enough to not bother the very few passengers, but loud enough to hear, signaling their arrival at the Youswell station.

The scent of dust and coal lingered in the air and there was barely a surface in sight that didn't have a thin coating of dirt. Deliylah sneezed, adjusted her hair with one hand, tightly clutching her suitcase with the other.

"So this is where we get coal..." Edward murmured, looking around.

"'The wild frontier,' eh? I always thought a place like this would be a little more lively. Everybody seems really tired…"

**_BONK._**

Deliylah looked over at the source of the sound of metal hitting a skull and saw Edward sprawled on the ground, clutching his head. The sound of a half hearted apology pulled her attention to a dirt covered boy perhaps a few years younger than Edward. When he realized that the three were not familiar, his attitude flipped.

"Hey! You from out of town? Where ya from? Need a meal? A place to stay?" He asked questions one right after another, completely ignoring Edwards stuttered responses. He then turned and waved excitedly to somebody in the distance. Deliylah was about as stunned as Alphonse, the two sharing a glance. "Dad! We got customers!"

A man coming from one of the mines carrying rope, chains, and a steel pole stopped when he heard the boys shout. "What's that Khayal?"

"Customers! A piggy bank!"

Edward jumped up, almost speechless. Almost. "A _what_!?"

The man, apparently the boy named Khayal's father, removed his helmet, revealing fiery eyes and a grimy mustache. "You don't say~? Well, kids, come with me, my inn is the best in the town!"

Deliylah and Alphonse exchanged looks as they gathered up their luggage, wondering how they managed to get a place to stay so soon after arriving.

When they arrived at the cozy inn, Ed, Al, and Deliylah set down their bags and took a seat, grateful for a place to sit and get off their feet.

"Sorry about the mess, the mines don't pay very much, so we run this inn to get by." Mr. Halling explained, bringing pints of beer to other customers seated around the inn.

A muscular man, obviously a miner, laughed heartily. "What're you talking about, chief? Your problem is, you're a soft touch, always givin' what you make to the poor! That's why your old lady's always cryin'!"

"Pipe down, will you?! If you got a problem with how I spend my money, then hurry up and pay me what you owe me for booze!" Loud laughter rippled through the building.

A woman, most likely Mrs. Halling, approached them with a kind smile on her face. "So there's three of you, would you like one nights stay and two meals each?"

"How much?"

"What, afraid you can't afford it?" A sly grin ran across Mr. Halling's face.

"Oh, don't worry, we brought enough."

"200 thousand!"

Edward fell out of his chair. "_200 thousand_?! What a rip off! You're off by a decimal point!"

"I said you might not be able to afford it."

Edward groaned, blowing them off. "Forget it, we'll go somewhere else."

Mr. Halling gripped Edwards head, stopping him in his tracks. "There's no escape, piggy bank!"

Khayal laughed behind them. "Don't bother, the prices are the same everywhere else, too."

Edward and Alphonse huddled in the corner, whispering about their money. "So, you're here on a trip then?" Mrs. Halling asked.

"Mhm," Deliylah nodded. "I think after this we're going to be on our way to Central. I've never been there before, so it sounds like fun."

"Where were you before?"

"Oh, I lived in Lior for a while, then I met the brothers and-"

"DAD, THIS GUY'S AND ALCHEMIST!" Khayals call cut her off, and the entire inn's attention went to Edward.

"An alchemist, huh? Like, the kind that can fix things?"

Edward shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Is there anything you need fixed?"

"Well, if it isn't much of a hassle one of our pickaxes broke."

"Bring it here. The whole thing, or I can't fix it."

Khayal disappeared into a back room and reappeared soon after with an armful of what used to be a pickax. The head must have hit something wrong and snapped in half.

Both pieces clunked onto the table in front of Edward. The bar's customers eagerly watched, waiting for something to happen. Ed clapped his hands together, and after a sharp blast of light, the pickax was back in one piece and in even better condition than when it was bought. The miners gathered around in awe, 'oh'ing and 'ah'ing at the bright, shiny tool.

The owner of the pickax pointed to it excitedly, a large grin on his face. "It looks brand new!"

"This is great! Our first customer in ages and he's an alchemist," another man exclaimed.

Mrs. Halling laughed softly as she watched the scene, leaning over to Deliylah. "Alchemists are pretty popular here. Are you an alchemist as well?"

Deliylah shook her head, chuckling awkwardly. "Oh, no, I'm not! It's not as popular where I'm from, in fact people don't really like alchemy."

"Ah, I'm sorry. And where are you from?" Deliylah froze. She had never really had to answer that question before; in Lior she could just say "Oh, somewhere," and they would be satisfied with her answer, but Mrs. Halling was a stranger, and she would most likely be interested in where she came from. She couldn't answer "Ishval," who knew how she would react.

She was saved from answering, however, by the realization that the entire inn had gone dead silent.

"So you're Elric the alchemist, then… the state alchemist?" Deliylah didn't really like how he had said 'state alchemist.' It reminded her too much of how the people from her village talked about alchemy.

"Well, sort of…," he answered awkwardly, reaching for his cup. It, like his food apparently had been according to the fork stuck in the table., was swiped from him before he could grab it. "Hey, what's the big deal?!"

Next thing she knew, she and the brothers were being thrown on the street. "Get lost!"

Edward wheeled around. "Hey, we're paying customers!"

Mr. Hallings attitude had completely changed from the generous demeanor he had before. Now he looked disgusted. "Blegh, we don't have food or lodgings for dogs of the military," he snarled back.

Alphonse raised one hand and put another around Deliylah. "Um, we're civilians. We aren't 'state' anythings."

A sweet smile played on Mr. Hallings lips. "Oh, thats fine then! Come on in!"

"You traitors!" Ed called out in disbelief. Al pulled Deliylah by the shoulders behind him, who looked back at Edward apologetically.

Disappointed miners trudged back into the inn, scuffing their boots on the floor. "Man, just when I thought we had a paying guest. What a let down."

Al and Deliylah took their seats back at the table. She ducked her head to try and avoid more attention. Al, on the other hand, decided to try and figure out what was going on. "State alchemists aren't too popular here, aren't they?"

Khayal scoffed. "Of course, everyone around here hates soldiers. This town's under the authority of Lieutenant Yoki, but all he cares about is making money.

A miner from the bar leaned over, stating unpleasant facts. "I hear he spends it all on bribes to his superiors back in Central City."

"I heard he even bought his way to being a Lieutenant," the miner whose pickaxe Ed fixed grumbled, taking a sip from his cup.

"Used to be he just owned the coal mines, but then he got greedy about movin' on up."

Al glanced over to the man who just spoke in surprise. "Huh? So this is…?"

The mans friend nodded. "Yup. This is Yoki's private property."

"That rat owns everything in this town. We don't get paid enough to get by! And even if we complain to somebody higher up, Yoki bribes them all, so they won't help!"

Khayal sighed, pointing his thumb at the miners who all spoke. "See? It sucks, huh?"

A low voice sounded beside Deliylah, making her jump. "And then there's the state alchemists," Mr. Halling said, placing down two trays of food for Al and herself. "'Alchemists be thou for the people.' Thats the slogan of the alchemists, the source of their pride." He turned away, a sour look on his face. "I know they get a lot in return, but I can't forgive people who sell their souls to the state." He walked away to tend to other guests, his shoulders drooping.

After a few minutes, when the miners attention had gone to other things like booze and friends, Deliylah noticed Al slip the tray into his lap. "Follow me," he whispered, and then, quietly as a tall suit of pure steel armor could, he slid from his seat and calmly walked out the door, Deliylah in tow.

Edward could be seen laying on the porch, looking miserable. He was muttering something about Al being a traitor when he knelt in front of him, holding out the tray. "We snuck out with the food they gave me."

Ed stared at Al for a moment before wrapping his arms around him in an almost comedically grateful hug. "Dear brother!"

Al sat next to Ed as he ate, quoting what the miners had said and describing what the Lieutenant Yoki had done to the town, such as raising taxes, lowering salaries, and bribing officials.

"Hmm, these corrupt officials types are everywhere, huh?"

Al nodded. "I guess, thanks to this guy, they don't even get enough food supplies."

Ed's hand wavered, about to take a bite of his sandwich. "I see…"

The silence was too awkward for Deliylah, so she asked a question that had been on her mind for the past hour. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, is that level of hatred for the military usual for people outside of Ishval?"

Ed nodded. "It's even worse here, that Lieutenant Yoki is causing a lot of trouble. I mean, military personnel like us aren't very popular to begin with. When I became a state alchemist, I knew I'd get a certain amount of flack, but I never knew they would hate me this much."

"... maybe I should become a state alchemist too," Al spoke softly.

Ed laughed half-heartedly. "It's not worth it! One person sitting on this bed on needles is enough."

Deliylah spoke even softer than Al. "If it means anything, Ed, you aren't like a lot of state alchemists I know. You're better, and kinder. You may be a dog of the military, but you're too young to have sold your soul like them."

He chuckled. "'Dog of the military,' huh? I don't know how to respond to that. Not only that, but we broke the laws of alchemy and now we're stuck with these bodies," Al reminisced. "I wonder what teacher would do if she ever found out…" He placed his head in his hand. Then both he and Ed started shivering in fear. "She… she'd kill us!"

Deliylah blinked in surprise, but before she could ask what was wrong she heard military boots stomp up the steps behind her. She wheeled around just as a harsh voice grated her ears. "Out of the way, we're coming in!" She flinched, inching closer to Al.

Ed stood up. "I wonder that that's all about…"

From just in the door, Deliylah saw three military uniforms, two flanking the smallest, who had a handkerchief to his nose. Either he had just sneezed or he was disgusted by the fine layer of dust. "This place looks filthy as usual, Halling." Disgusted it was.

"Well, well, Lieutenant Yoki, what brings you to a shabby little place like this?"

"Hey Ed, that must be the guy who's been causing so much trouble around here, the corrupt Lieutenant," Deliylah exclaimed, pointing to the mousy little man.

"He certainly looks the part," Ed agreed. Deliylah nodded; She didn't typically think about stereotypes, but this man had all the makings of a middle aged corrupt official, whether it be the greasy, receding hairline, the thin moustache that he kept grooming with his stubby fingers, or the sour look behind a crow-like nose that he stuck pompously into the air. Even his voice was annoying.

"Enough small talk. I hear you're late on your taxes. I know you're not the only deadbeat in this town, but don't expect me to just ignore you." He reminded Deliylah of a snake, or perhaps a poisonous worm.

"I'm very sorry, but we're barely getting by as it is," Mr. Halling retorted. Clearly he and the Lieutenant didn't like each other.

"Well, I see you can still afford to sell alcohol, so I guess that means I can lower your salary a little more?"

Several miners cursed, and Khayal threw a wet rag at Lieutenant Yoki's face. "Why you... you better be joking!" The rag hit Yoki's face with a splat. Both soldiers on either side gasped, and Yoki looked like he was ready to throw up.

"Why you little brat! Sir, allow me!" Yoki put up his hand, however, and brought it across Khayals face in a back slap, causing both Mrs. Halling and Deliylah to gasp.

He then motioned towards one of his men, who brought out a sword. "I won't hold back just because he's a child. Let this be a warning."

"Ed, do something, he's gonna kill him!" Deliylah pleaded to Ed, who darted forward and threw his arm up in the way of the blade, which broke on impact.

The soldiers glanced around, confused. "Wh-Where'd this kid come from?!"

Ed shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee, still in his hand. "Just a kid passing through."

Yoki was angry that Ed had interfered, and let him know. "This is none of your business, stay out!"

"Well, I heard the Lieutenant was gonna be here," he dug through his pocket. "I decided to say hello," he said slyly, pulling out his pocket watch. Yoki stared at it for several moments before reeling back in shock, pulling his subordinates aside with hushed whispers.

Deliylah leaned over to Ed. "Um, what are you doing?'

"Improvising. Just wait, you'll see. It'll be fantastic~" He perked up and small whispers made their way to his ears. "I thought I heard 'runt'..."

Finally Yoki turned back to Ed, slithering his way over with his hands clasped and a sly grin across his face. "I'm sorry if my subordinates were impolite. My name is Yoki, and I am in charge of this town. It must be fate that we met here! Theres no need for you to stay at this pig-pen. ("Pig pen?!" Khayal exclaimed angrily.) Even though we are far away from the city, we have some lovely rooms back at my house! Why don't you stay there instead?"

Edward smiled. "Well, I guess that would be alright, since the owner here is too cheap to let me stay~"

Deliylah was very confused, so she turned to Alphonse instead. "Do you know what he's doing or am I just very much out of the loop?"

Al whispered in Deliylah's ear. "I think I have an idea, but brother didn't tell me anything either. I think we should just stay here and wait for him." His sentence was finished by the door slamming and Khayal yelling in anger.

"AAAAAGGGH, THAT MAKES ME SO MAD!"

"Um, mad at who," Al timidly asked.

"BOTH OF THEM," the whole inn replied loudly.

* * *

**Get ready for a little bit of action, not much but its more than we see in the manga since Ed doesn't witness it. I'm not sure if this is what actually happens, but Brotherhood doesn't include Youswell and the 03' anime is significantly different.**


	6. Chapter 6

**aaaaah I love this chapter a lot and I hope you enjoy it~! I had to improvise a bit since we don't actually witness the inn burning down but I think this might have been at least a bit how it went. I did sort of base it on what happened in 03 but minus lyra obviously.  
anyway, Enjoy~!  
**

* * *

Later that evening, Deliylah was curled up in bed with Alphonse sitting close by, reading a book. All of a sudden, she bolted upright, causing Al to jump in surprise. "Deliylah? Whats wrong?"

"I can smell something."

"What kind of something?"

She kept silent for a moment, her eye fixed on the wall. "Fire. Something's on fire! Al, I think the building's burning!"

Although Al could not smell it, at her statement he realized that the crackling of flames was louder than what could come from a fireplace. "You're right! We need to tell Mr. Halling, he has no idea!" He bolted up, grabbing his luggage.

Deliylah grabbed his arm. "Al, I think Khayal is still here, I didn't hear him leave!" She quickly slid into more covering clothes and bolted down the hall, where flames had begun to lick up the walls.

"Deliylah, be careful," Al cried out, bursting out of the room behind her. She ignored his advice and moved to jump through the wall of fire where she could hear faint screams for help. "No, don't, you'll get burned! Get out and go get Mr. Halling, I'll get Khayal!"

"But Al, you might not be able to touch him! You're made of metal, you could burn him!"

"It's our best chance, I can get him, you can't! Get out of here, now!" He shoved the luggage into her arms and pushed her downstairs.

Deliylah wretched the front door open, throwing herself outside. After tripping on the bottom stair, she threw the suitcases onto the safety of the sidewalk, hiked her skirt up, and raced down the street, her feet pounding on the dirt. When she reached Mr. and Mrs. Hallings house, she pounded on the door with her bare fist, her other glove still tightly clenched in her hand. "Mr. Halling, Mr. Halling, please, come quick! Your inn is on fire!" Seconds later he threw his door open.

"What? The inn?"

She nodded, out of breath, pointing to the smoke now reaching for the sky. "Al went to get Khayal, but it's not good, the whole place is up!"

Deliylah and Mr. Halling got back to the inn just as it crumbled, the supports cracking and breaking under the weight of burnt wood. Deliylah covered her face with one hand to protect it from flying coals. "KHAYAL! NO, KHAYAL!" He darted forward, but Deliylah was faster, nimbly dashing over cinders and remaining flames. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the faint glint of Alphonse's back, and she hauled wood off of him until he was able to stand, Khayal curled up in his arms, sweat and tears dripping from his frightened face.

Over the next few hours, the whole town had gathered around, giving their condolences and observing the crumbles ashes of what was left of the inn. Deliylah rubbed her neck, sore from the sudden amount of stressful heavy lifting and work.

"Alphonse! Deliylah!" Deliylah spun around to see Ed walking towards the two. "What the hell happened here?"

"The place the went up in flames. Al and I were still inside, but I got out in time. Al stayed in to rescue Khayal, but don't worry, they're both ok."

She then turned to Khayal, who was sitting on the ground. "I saw some of Yoki's underlings hanging about the inn last night," he mumbled.

Deliylah gasped. "What? You think they started the fire?"

Ed nodded. "They did. I overheard a conversation between him and one of his subordinates. He was told that they had 'had a few run ins with them before,' so he told them to burn it down. I tried to get out as soon as I could and warn you, but I guess I was too late."

"What a dirty thing to do," Deliylah whispered softly, surveying the wreck of the inn. Mrs. Halling was crouched on the ground clutching the burned sign that had once hung over the door. Mr. Halling placed his arm around her trembling shoulders.

"The reason my dad tried to learn alchemy was because he wanted to save this town…" Khayal muttered. Then he had an idea. "Hey, Ed, you're good enough to make gold, right? Can't you just whip up some gold to help my dad… and this town?" He pleaded hopefully.

But Edward turned away. "No."

"Come on, it's not gonna cost you anything!"

"Alchemy is based on the law of equivalent exchange. Why should I give you free money?" Even Deliylah thought he was being cold.

Khayal leapt up, snatching Ed's collar in anger. "You scumbag! You call yourself an alchemist?!" Deliylah moved forward, placing a hand on Khayals, silently telling him to let go and back off.

"Alchemists work for the people, right?" She heard a mutter. Ed shrugged Khayal away. "If I gave you money now, it'd just end up as taxes in Yoki's vault. I don't feel like being used by all of you just to get by," he said, re-adjusting his jacket. "If you're so desperate, then leave town and find another job."

"Kid, I know you won't understand, but the mines are our homes…" Mr. Halling retorted, "… and our graves."

Deliylah empathized with the Hallings. Ishval had been home to her, and many of the people in her village had wanted to stay and fight. They wanted to spill their blood rather than run like cowards. Deliylah just hoped that Youswell weren't ready to die for their mines.

She heard Al running and realized Ed had walked away. She bowed apologetically to the townspeople and ran after them. "Brother! Hey, big brother, hold on! Are you real going to abandon these peo-"

"Al," Ed cut him off. Al stopped, and Deliylah caught up with him. They were by one of the exits to the mines, and Ed was observing large carts full of what looked like dirty coal. "How much culm do you think is here?"

Al paused for a moment, wondering why Ed was asking a question so off topic. The he looked at the carts and made an estimate. "Uh, one ton? Maybe two?"

Deliylah tapped Al on the elbow, since his shoulder was a bit high up. "What's culm?"

"Waste from coal mines. Dirt, coal dust, and stuff like that. Brother, be careful! What are you thinking?" Edward was trying to climb on top of one of the carts.

"I'm gonna do something slightly illegal, so you might want to look the other way for just a second."

Al gasped. "Huh? You want me to be an accomplice?!"

"What, you won't?"

He sighed, crossing his arms. "You're gonna do it even if I say no, aren't you?"

Ed shrugged, clapping his hands together. "Aagh, if we don't get caught… we wont get caught." Light shined from the pile of culm and what looked suspiciously like gold began to emerge from the dirt.

Alphonse put his face into his palm. "Aw man, aren't you supposed to set an example for me?" Deliylah tipped her head, incredibly confused, and Al could see it. "Edwards making gold out of the culm there. I dunno what he expects to do with it."

Ed hopped down from the cart, mounds of gold where dirt used to be. "Well you see dear brother of mine, I have a plan."

"Is it like the plan in Lior where you tricked Father Cornello?"

"Sort of, yeah. I'm gonna trick him into selling the mines to me."

"Wait, is that what all this gold is for?"

"Yeah, but it's illegal to make gold, so he's not keeping it."

"What, you're gonna sell him out to authorities?"

"No, no, that'd get me in trouble, too. I'm gonna convince him to 'sell' me the coal mines with this gold, then when he's not looking I'm gonna change it back to rock. By the time he finds out I'd have given the coal mines to the town and Yoki is out of business."

Deliylah clasped her hands together. "Edward, that's brilliant!"

He laughed. "Ah, if it works it will be. Come on, we have to get this gold to Yoki's estate."

When every bar of Ed's fake gold had been piled into a large, brilliant room, Yoki and his subordinates were having to pick their jaws up from the floor. Ed, Al, and Deliylah took in front of the pile. The plan had been set in motion.

"Now, I'd like you to sell me the rights to the coal mines," Ed stated. The subordinates made their way around and gawked at the gold. Yoki was speechless. "Is it not enough?"

Yoki stammered, shaking his hands wildly. "P-Please don't be absurd! With this much gold, I can say goodbye to this miserable post," he whispered to himself. He seemed to be overjoyed. "Oh, and… um, if you wouldn't mind…?"

"Oh yes," Ed grinned, "I'll make sure to put in a few good words to my superiors~"

"Oh, thank you, my dear alchemist~!" Yoki was almost crying with joy. Deliylah was having a hard time hold back a chuckle at how utterly stupid and gullible this man was. She usually didn't like thinking such things, but under the circumstances she gave herself a bit of leeway.

"But making gold is illegal, so in order not to get caught, I'd appreciate it if you could write a document saying that the mines were handed over 'free of charge?'"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind at all! Well then, lets do the paperwork right away! I must say, good sir, you really are a sly one, Mr. Alchemist sir~"

Ed chuckled. "No, no, nothing compared to you, my dear Lieutenant~"

Al sighed. "He's enjoying this way too much," he whispered to Deliylah.

They exited the building brimming with satisfaction. The plan had worked. "We need to get to Hallings house before Yoki notices." They power-walked down the road all the way into town, where they burst into the house. Most of the coal miners were gathered in Mr. Hallings living room, and each face turned sour where they saw Edward.

"Hi everybody! You're looking cheerful today~!" Ed greeted their angry looks.

Khayal scoffed. "What're you doing here?" he practically snarled at Ed. "Hey, hey, should you be talking to the new proprietor of this joint like that~?"

"What are you-" before the elderly miner sitting next to Khayal could finish his sentence, Edward shoved the documents in his face. "What is this?"

"Ownership papers. Then confer on the holder the rights to mining, sales, distribution, and all subsidiary businesses in this town." His smirk was getting wider and wider. He couldn't wait to get to the end game.

The miner gingerly took the documents from Ed's hands, looking them over. "How did you get… HEY! This says it's been signed over to Edward Elric!"

Both Khayal and Mr. Halling cried out in disbelief. Murmurs went through the room like how they had in the inn. Ed grinned wildly.

"Yep! From this moment on, this coal mine belongs to me!"

"No way!" the whole room yelled.

"Believe it~" Ed said, shrugging. "But, we're just three vagabonds moving from place to place."

Deliylah nodded, just as Edward had told her to. "We don't really need the mines, in fact their more of a burden than not."

Al agreed with her just according to script. "These documents will only be in the way, so…"

Mr. Halling got the idea. "You want to sell it to us? How much?" he asked, unsure of the deal.

A sly grin ran across Edwards face. It was like deja vu. "What, afraid you can't afford it?" he quoted the chief. "If you want something, you have to pay the price. After all, this deed is printed on high quality goatskin parchment, stamped with a gold seal. Not only that, but in a spectacular feat of craftsmanship, the deposit box is inlaid with powered jade. This is the work of a true artist, and hey! The key is made of real silver!" When he finally finished blathering, he laid the documents in front of the chief. "Well, this is just a layman's opinion, but taking all this into account…" he chuckled before continuing, "How about the price of one nights stay and two meals for three at your place? Would that be fair, chief?"

Silence lingered in the house, then Mr. Halling burst out laughing for the first time since the night before. "Ha ha ha! You're right! That is expensive!" He slammed his fist down on the table next to the documents, causing them to flutter. "I'll buy it!" His eyebrows were furrowed, but not in anger. Fire was in his eyes, and the frowns of the surrounding miners were turning to smiles of realization and joy.

At the moment, the door burst open, and a very distressed looking Yoki threw himself inside, his subordinates in tow. "Mr. Alchemist, what is the meaning of this?!" he screeched. In his palm sat a handful of rock.

"Well, well, Lieutenant, I just sold the deed to the mine to the chief here." Ed's cocky reply caused Yoki to nearly howl in astonishment.

"No, but that's not what I'm here for! The gold bars you gave me have all turned to rock! Can you please explain that?!"

Deliylah heard Al lean over and whisper into Ed's ear. "When did you change it back?"

"Just before I left," he said, letting out a content whistle. "I don't know anything about any 'gold bars.'"

"Please don't act dumb! We exchanged a pile of gold for the ownership documents! This is fraud!"

Ed laughed, holding up the documents that Mr. Halling had just finished reading over. "Huh? The deed was given to me free of charge! See, you signed it! It says so right here!"

Yoki was trembling in anger. "The deal is null and void! You two," he motioned towards his subordinates, "Takes those documents from them! Now!"

But they didn't have a chance. Many of the miners had stood up and were putting themselves between Edward and Yoki. Deliylah hadn't really noticed before, but each and every single one of them was huge. They loomed over the three, cracking their knuckles and grins all around. By the time they settled down, the subordinates were on the ground.

Ed decided to make one more point. "Oh, Lieutenant?" Yoki yelped. "I'll make sure to tell the higher-ups about your corruption and incompetence, so please look forward to it~" He smiled sweetly.

Yoki slumped to the floor, his jaw at his knees.

The miners, on the other hand, bumped fists and patted shoulders, whooping with satisfaction. "Alright, we did it! Bring out the booze!" The crowded around Ed, Al, and Deliylah, thank-you's being spoken all over the place. By the time the party was over, each and every miner was drunk and Edward was on the floor in a food coma, his head in Deliylah's lap.

"Aaaah, I can't eat another bite~" He mumbled contently.

Al fumed. "You're sleeping with your stomach out again! Sheesh, you're so sloppy."

Deliylah giggled, then looked down at the blonde boy snoring in front of her with a sigh. "You really are better than most state alchemists…" she whispered.

* * *

**oh boy oh boy oh boy the train is next the train is next the train is next**  
**by the way the main reason im even bothering to write out the chapters with youswell and the train is because a. i want more chapters and reading material and b. it gives deliylah and the brothers more time to feel comfortable with each other rather than BAM friendship**  
**also no this wont be an OCxEd fanfic, she just really admires Edwards selflessness. **_(ok so i really ship deliylah with ling and i think thats who shes gonna end up with)_


	7. Chapter 7

**I really love the train scene~ I tried to use RinTheMagicalGirl's advice (thanks again btw!) and add more Deliylah action. Leave a review if there's anything you want me to change in my writing style! Enjoy~!**

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Lots of things made Deliylah twitchy. Military uniforms were one. Alchemy was usually another. State alchemists were a double whammy. And guns were one of the worst. So, of course, on their way to Central, most of the ride was spent with a gun in her face.

The hijacking had happened so fast nobody had any time to react. Thankfully nobody in their cabin had gotten injured, but nobody liked two men wielding a shotgun and a pistol on their train. Edward, of course, was snoring away in her lap, unaware of the dangers. And unfortunately, one of the hijackers had noticed.

"How can this brat sleep through all of this?" he muttered, poking Ed with the barrel.

"Sir, I really suggest you don't do that…" Deliylah warned him softly. "He's a very heavy sleeper, and he has a really bad temper…"

"Shut up, woman," he barked back, poking Ed again. Deliylah flinched and turned away. "Tch, wake up!" Ed continued to snore. "Why you… act more like a hostage, you little runt!"

That had done it. Deliylah gasped, Ed's boot stomping hard on the floor of the cabin. "I warned you sir… you really, shouldn't have done that…" A sort of aura emanated from Ed that made Deliylah slowly press herself against the wall.

The hijacker, on the other hand, seemed to not see how angry he had made the boy. "What? You got a problem or something?"

Ed clapped his hands together on the barrel of the shotgun, and after a bright light it wasn't a shotgun anymore. At least not a working one. The barrel had become twisted to resemble something more like the end of a french horn than a gun. Then with the slam of a boot the hijacker was face down on the floor. Al put his hand to his face, sighing. Suddenly, Deliylah heard the click of a gun, and the barrel against Ed's head.

"That was stupid, kid. We were ordered to kill all passengers." Deliylah could feel a short reference coming on. She also had no desire to warn the man about the mistake he was about to make. It was obvious they weren't going to listen to her. Of course, by the time Al could get his brother to stop wailing on the poor man, teeth were missing and blood was all over his face. Ed demanded an explain, and after the man had described his organization and where the rest of the hijackers were, Ed decided to play hero.

"I'll go above, Al, you take them from below, alright?"

"Fine, fine." Al was obviously exasperated by his brothers violent actions, but turned to the door.

"Deliylah, you come with me. Do you know how to train walk?"

She shrugged. "Uh, I suppose it can't be too hard…" She felt a twinge of irritation; she had once overheard one of the more racist townspeople accuse Ishvalans of being 'thieving gypsies who freeloaded and stole from the hardworking.' Deliylah had never stolen a thing in her life, and had felt incredibly offended hearing such a nasty thing about her own people. She pushed the feeling away, of course, because she knew that Edward was, at least hopefully, nothing like that.

"It may be more difficult than you think. Just follow my lead."

"O-Okay…"

"Wait," one of the passengers called out to them. "Who exactly are you guys?"

Ed grinned, half out the window. "We're alchemists!" The he put the rest of his body out the window and was nearly blown away, yelling something about wind pressure. Deliylah swallowed nervously; train walking was indeed dangerous.

By the time both Deliylah and Edward had managed to get out of the train and onto the roof, Deliylah had stopped trying to keep her hair in her face. Edward tried his best not to look, but he couldn't help it, the patchy brown-to-white pattern on her face was fascinating to say the least.

"Is there something wrong, Ed?" He grew hot in the face when he realized he had been staring for far too long.

"N-no, sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I just…"

She sighed. "It's ok, I don't mind, you're not like some of the people from Lior." She and Ed began carefully stepping their way towards the front of the train.

"The people of Lior?"

She nodded. "A lot of people I know are either Ishvalan, racist, or really, really good people. Most of the people in Lior fit into the second category. You, Al, the shopkeeper, and Rose fit into the third. People who fit into the first are pretty much all dead. At least the ones I knew…" She trailed off, and Edward saw an opportunity to change the subject.

"So… how are we gonna get the hostages?"

"I'm not sure, I don't even know where they are-" She cut off when she heard what sounded suspiciously like a gun cocking from right below her. "EDWARD, MOVE!"

Bullets flew all around her as she leapt forward and snatched Eds arm, pulling him forward. Both tumbled into the footwell in front of the cabin. Edward hissed, slipping his boot off. A bullet had lodged its way into his boot. He then gasped, pulling himself forward. "Deliylah, you're bleeding!"

"Huh?" She inspected herself and found that a bullet had grazed her leg. It was bleeding lightly, and the skirt was torn. Luckily it didn't hurt too much. "I'll be fine. We need to take care of the engine room before anything."

He nodded, taking one more glance at Deliylah's thigh. "Lets get back on top of the car, I have a plan."

Both waited by the windows, Deliylah on the left and Edward on the right. When he gave the thumbs up, she balanced herself by the entrance, waiting to dash in. After several thumps and yelps, she tipped in just in time to see the train drivers pounding on a hijacker with their shovels. Deciding they didn't need her help, she lifted herself back into the coal pile.

"Anything else I can do?"

"Just drive safely, please!" Ed's blond hair peeked from the other side. At that moment, the hatch to the first class car creaked open, and yet another gun-wielding man hauled himself up.

"There you are, you rodents!"

BANG.

Deliylah laid herself as flat as she could on the coal pile, trying to get herself out of the way, Ed seemed to have gone over the edge. He hauled himself back in and clapped his hands. Deliylah didn't see what happened next due to coal dust and transmutation light, but she knew it was loud. When the dust had settled, a large cannon had been formed from the coal, of which the train driver was not happy about.

"Hey! What are you doing to the tender car? It's got the coal and water for the whole train!" He scolded.

Ed apologized, then his face lit up with an idea. "Deliylah, how good are you and getting in those windows?"

"The car windows? I guess I can do it, why?"

"We need to find out which room the hostages are in. I'm gonna give the hijackers one chance to give up, then if they refuse I'll flood the car with water and flush them out. When I do that, you need to go in and close the door, otherwise the hostages will get a piece of it too," he explained.

Deliylah nodded. "Alright, I can do that." While Edward set up to speak to the hijackers, Deliylah quickly peaked in the windows of the car. Finally she saw a family that had to be the hijackers. The man, most likely the General, was bleeding heavily from the ear, part of which was missing. "There we are…" She quietly and slowly slid down to the side of the window, just out of sight, her nails poised under the window, ready to open it.

"Hello, hello, calling all hijackers. We have recaptured the engine room and the rear cars. This car is the only one left. Please lay down your arms and let the hostages go. If not, we will have no choice but to use force."

She fainly heard one of the hijackers, what she assumed to be the leader, yell back a retort. "What a joke! I don't know who you are, but as long as we have the hostages, we'll never give up!"

"Oh, my, you're still going to resist? Too bad. Talks over. Bye." Another transmutation caused the hijackers to gasp. "All passengers, please take cover." That was her cue. She dug the window open and threw herself inside, quickly slamming the car door shut and pressing into it with all her might.

"Run for your-!"

WOOSH.

Water surged against the door, the sound rushing in Deliylah's ears. Above the chaos she heard children drying and the hijackers screaming. She buried her face into her shoulder, digging her nails into the door.

Finally the rushing water died down, and Deliylah relaxed a bit. Running her fingers through her hair and fixing it back over her face, she turned to the four hostages in front of her. "Are you alright?"

The bleeding general nodded. "Y-Yes, but… who are you?"

"Just a friend of the Fullmetal Alchemists, thats all." Suddenly she fell forward, the door being thrown open behind her. In the doorway was a very large, very wet, and very angry man. She swore under her breath.

A splash in the hallway caught the man's attention. His cloak flew back to reveal an automail arm that looked like a giant gun, although in Deliylah's opinion Edwards arm was much better.

The man had to take several seconds to see who had just entered the hall. "Y-You're just a little brat!" Edward must have come down from the hatch. He brought his arm back, getting ready to fire, but Edward was faster. He drove the sharp sword-like weapon he transmuter onto his own arm through the cheaper metal, while Alphonse came up behind the hijacked and bludgeoned him with his fist, knocking him out cold.

"Are the other hijackers taken care of?"

"Mhm, don't worry," Al responded, turning to Deliylah. "Are the hostages ok?"

"I think so, but one of them is bleeding, part of his ear looked like it was missing." She looked back into the car, where the General was hugging his children and wife.

"They'll be fine," Edward reassured her. "Nice work, by the way. I wouldn't of thought of you as somebody who could move like that."

Eds statement took Deliylah by surprise. "Why not?"

"You cleaned altars and worked for a church, not really the most athletic job. And I'm not racist." He turned and began tying up the hijackers. Deliylah stood in awe, not quite used to strangers not treating her like 'just another dirty Ishvalan criminal.'

Their arrival in Central was greeted with cheers and lots of soldiers giving orders to take care of the hijackers tied up in the first class car. The platform smelled heavily of oil and people and trains. The General was treated by a first aid on the scene, and his family was cared for by several nice-looking soldiers. As nice as they all looked, Deliylah still felt very on edge being in the center of one of the most militaristic cities in Amestris.

"Hey, Fullmetal~" A greeting caught Deliylah's attention, although she was more intrigued by Edwards sudden sour expression more than the man who said hello. "Whats with the unhappy face?"

"Shit, if I had know it was in your jurisdiction, I wouldn't have helped!"

"Ed, you don't mean that!" Deliylah scolded.

The man laughed. He looked awfully familiar. "It's alright, young lady, he doesn't like me very much, but he's stuck with me anyway. I am his superior officer, after all." Deliylah was sure that she knew him, but she couldn't place it. A part of her almost didn't want to. The man's attention was pulled back to Edward. "Huh? I guess you're still not back to normal?"

Ed shook his head. "I'm researching the ancient texts, but nothing yet. We've been searching East city, but still…"

"I've heard the rumors. It seems like you're causing quite a commotion."

Ed scoffed angrily. "I guess you're still as nosey as ever."

The man shrugged. "Frankly, it's hard not to hear about you. So…," he turned back to Deliylah. "Who exactly is this young lady? I've never seen her before… I don't think…"

Ed put his hand on her shoulder. "We met her in Lior, and she decided to come along and help us. She also assisted us with this big mess here. So far she's proved herself to be a valuable ally."

Deliylah blushed, unable to hold back a bashful smile. "Aw, thanks~"

The man chuckled. "And what would this beautiful young woman's name be, by any chance?" He asked, reaching out his hand, which she took and shook.

"Deliylah, sir. Deliylah Hayes."

Recognition sparked in his eyes, but before he could say anything, the group's attention was diverted by the sound of screams. The leader that they had taken down earlier had cut through his bindings with a concealed knife stuck in the remains of what was left of his automail. The men who had been guarding him were on the ground, the source of the sounds. The lead hijacker was livid, baring his teeth with veins pulsing in his forehead and sweat dripping from his chin. He flung himself towards the man standing next to Deliylah.

"Please stand back Colonel," a woman who was escorting him tried to warn him, pulling out a gun, but the Colonel held his hand out.

"I'll handle this." He slipped a glove with an odd transmutation circle, holding up his hand and snapping his fingers. Her memory clicked when a large explosion rang out, fire sending the screaming man flying to the ground.

His name was Mustang. His rank had gone up since she had first met him, but she could easily remember his flames from a distance. He may not have been the state alchemist who picked her off the battlefield, but she remembered nearly everyone she met in the barracks.

When the hijacker was taken care of once again, Mustang turned back to Ed. "Well, lets get back to my office and you can brief me on your mission so far."

Ed groaned. "Do I have to?"

Al laughed. "Don't be spoiled, brother."

Deliylah chuckled half-heartedly, hoping to Ishvala that Mustang wouldn't recognize her, although something told her that he already did.

* * *

**Bit late to back out now that you're in the heart of Central, Deliylah**  
**Next chapter is probably gonna be long, so it'll take some time to write, sorry! Once again leave review and tell me how you liked it I'm dying to know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh man, when I said it would take a while I didnt mean like 3 months I swear, I'm so so so sorry it took so long. Luckily while I was stuck in several ruts during this chapter I wrote the one after it too, so that DEFINITELY wont take too long.  
Also i guessed with what Nina was wearing and i was wrong but Nina in overalls? Cute! Enjoy~!  
**

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Deliylah found car rides to be very much like train rides, except slower so she could see the scenery. She was amazed by how green everything was. In Ishval everything was warm and dusty and almost none of the houses went above two stories tall, but Central was filled with huge buildings that reached into the sky, and everything was colorful.

Although she had understood little of what the brothers and Mustang had talked about, she did know that they were going to visit a state alchemist, a specialist in chimera research named Shou Tucker. She knew she wasn't going to be actively engaged in the conversation, but she hoped to learn at least a little bit.

"Excuse me, Miss Deliylah?" Mustang's voice caught her attention, causing her to jump and pull her eyes from the rows of apartments and hotels that were beginning to thin out into individual estates and houses.

"Y-yes?" She answered. She was still quite wary around him, and would have preferred not to talk to him. But, none-the-less, she was polite, and if he needed to ask her something she would listen. Which he did.

"Are you sure we haven't met before?"

"I don't think so, sir…" she replied a little too quick, turning back to the green lawns and painted houses, hopefully getting her point across that she didn't want him to know that he did indeed know who she was.

The car pulled up to the gate of an enormous mansion. Ed, Al, Mustang, and Deliylah exited the vehicle and began making their way to the house, which seemed to get bigger with every step they took toward it.

Deliylah's ears perked and the hair on the back of her neck stood up; something was moving behind her. She turned around and promptly lept out of the way of an enormous white dog that planted itself onto Edward with a howl, flattening him.

"Alexander, no, don't do that," an adorable voice playfully scolded the dog. Deliylah turned around to see a very young child wearing two braids and a loose pair of overalls holding the door open. A man she recognized from the photo in the file to be Mr. Tucker appeared behind her, looking mildly distressed.

"Nina, this is why I told you to keep the dog tied up…" he sighed, pulling the door open all the way. "Alexander, come here." Alexander, apparently the dogs name, hauled himself off of Edward, who groaned in pain as he slowly sat up. "I'm so sorry about that, come on in. Nina, please go tie up the dog…"

"Awww, okay daddy. Alexander, come on!" The girl raced into the yard, having no intention of tying the dog up.

Mr. Tucker led the four into a very dirty living room, clearing a space for them to sit and discuss. "Can I offer you some tea? I'm afraid the place is a mess, so finding a clean cup around here may be difficult…"

Deliylah piped up shyly. "If you don't mind, I could make the tea. I'm not an alchemist, I won't really be of any use to the conversation."

"Why, thank you, young lady! I usually keep the tea over in that cupboard near the sink, the cups should be there too." He pointed toward a sink overflowing with dishes caked with grime.

When she finally found enough clean mugs and space and finished four cups of tea, one for everybody with a mouth, Edward was explaining how he got his automail and why he needed to see Tuckers research.

"I see… so you lost your mother…" He remarked, gazing at Edward's automail arm.  
Colonel Mustang nodded. "I've told my superiors that he lost his limbs in the civil war in the East. I must ask you to please keep quiet about this attempts at human transmutation."

Tucker nodded standing up. "Sure, no problem. I'm sure the military couldn't afford to lose such a brilliant individual." He reached forward, taking their now empty teacups and dropping them into the already full sink. "Well then, I'm not sure if it'll be any help to you, but let me show you my laboratory. Right this way please."

The word "laboratory" made Deliylah feel a little anxious, but she followed Edward down a dark hallway into a dimly lit room filled with the sounds and smells of animals. Edward looked around, wide-eyed and in awe. Jars on shelves were filled with specimens, and misshapen animals sat in corners in cages.

"It's a bit embarrassing, really. I'm supposed to be the authority on chimeras, but in reality it's never easy. Lot's of failures and false starts… ah, miss! I'd advise you not to touch that one, she's pois-" he stopped mid sentence. Deliylah had crouched by a cage and slowly stuck her hand inside. The chimera held within, which had snarled when Colonel Mustang passed by, was giving off what sounded vaguely like a purr, rubbing it's scaled head against Deliylah's fingers.

"Oh, I'm sorry, she just looked like she wanted some attention…"

"How? I've never been able to touch her…"

She rubbed her neck with one hand. "I-I've always been good with animals, I suppose…"

Tucker gave a breathy chuckle. "Well, that certainly is unique~" He tossed a handful of pet food to the chimera and stood up, straightening his shirt. "Well if you'll follow me again, I'll show you my file room," he said, bringing them down another hallway.

"WOW!" Edward cried out in amazement. They had entered what looked light an enormous library practically overflowing with books and research materials. Edward looked like a child had just entered a candy store and was told he could pick anything he wanted off the shelves. "This is incredible!" he remarked, gaping at the tall shelves.

Tucker laughed. "Feel free to look around. I'll be in the lab."

Deliylah gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but I noticed that your kitchen needs a bit of cleaning. As I said before, I'm not much of an alchemist, but if you'd like I can help you clean up a bit."

A large smile ran across his face. "Why, thank you very much!"

The kitchen wasn't that easy to clean, but Mr. Tucker was willing to help as much as he could, and with a little team effort and a bit of frustration Deliylah was able to clear out all the dishes and dust off all the shelves. After the last plate was placed in the cabinet, she decided, since a few hours had gone by, she'd check in on Edward and bring him a cup of tea.

Edward was still in the library, and a large pile of books had accumulated around him. He looked up from his extensive reading only when Deliylah leaned over and held out a saucer with a cup of tea on it.

"Oh, thank's Deliylah!" At that moment the bell tolled, signaling the turn of the hour. "Oh, I didn't realize the time!" He stood up, stretching his limbs that were cramped from hours of reading. "Al! Hey, Alphonse! Where are you?" He called out to his brother. Delilyah could faintly hear the movement of his metal joints from the other side of the library, and a high pitched giggle from the same place.

"I think he's this way…" Before they found Alphonse, however, something else found them first. Her ears perked and the hair at the back of her neck stood up again, and on instinct she moved quickly out of the way just in time for a large white dog to once again land directly on Edward.

"Oh, hey big brother~" Alphonse's childish voice made Delilyah look up. A soft giggle made her look higher. Nina was perched on his shoulders, and apparently they had been playing for several minutes.

"What do you mean 'Hey, big brother?!' You're supposed to be looking through data, not babysitting!" Ed shouted, pulling himself out from under the dog, who immediately licked his face with a long, slobbery tongue.

Nina, still on Al's shoulders, giggled loudly. "Alexander says that he wants to play, too!"

Edward flew into a playful rage, chasing the dog all around the library, forgetting that he was supposed to be reading, too. By the end of the day the dog had once again flung himself on top of Edward.

The door opened and Tucker, followed by a young soldier smoking a cigarette who she recognized as one of Mustang's men, walked in. The smoking soldier raised an eyebrow, surveying the scene of Edward struggling to lift a large white dog off him. Deliylah coughed as quietly as she could. She hated the smell of cigarettes.

"Mind if I ask what you're doing?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Ed groaned, "Lets just say I'm taking a break from a long day a research."

"After all that you must be…" Deliylah took in a sharp breath. Mr. Tucker was about to make a pun. "_Dog tired_." Edward cringed, grinning. Deliylah snorted, clasping her mouth with her gloved hands.

Edward pulled himself to his feet, swaying. Deliylah gently put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, and he patted her on the back gratefully. The soldier turned back to say something to Tucker, then escorted them to the car. Deliylah sank into the seat, softly smiling to herself. Today was a good day.

The next day was pretty similar, but Alexander instead plopped down in the library and Nina sat down next to her dog and the four of them talked a bit. She told them about how her mother had left them and apparently gone to live with her parents, about how her father had always been working since then after he got his state licence and about how she was a _little_ bit lonely.

Edward snapped his book shut, standing up and stretching his arms over his head. "Ah, man, all this reading is making my shoulders cramp up."

"Exercise is the best cure for shoulder cramps, big brother."

"You're right, I guess I'll go work out a little on the yard." He turned around and pointed a finger at Alexander. "Hey, dog! I'll play with you for exercise!"

Al turned to the girls still on the floor. "Deliylah, Nina, you should come too!" Nina giggled and Deliylah nodded, pulling herself up and straightening out her skirt.

The rest of the day was spent laughing while Edward struggled to not become a pancake under Alexander, who usually won the rounds. Deliylah pushed Alexander off of Edward, using her back strength to lift the dog. She glanced up and could have sworn she saw Mr. Tucker glaring out his window with a pained face.

A tiny hand pressed firmly onto her side. "Tag, you're it!" Nina had tagged her and was now running as fast as her little legs would take her. Both Alphonse and Edward were running from her as well. It seemed that everybody was playing. She grinned and hiked up her skirt.

By the end of the evening, Deliylah, Edward, and Nina collapsed on the cool grass with Al looking over them, exhausted and still laughing their lungs out. That's how the rest of the week was, at least for Deliylah. She would make tea, then Edward would finish his day's reading and invite Nina, Alphonse, and herself outside for some exercise and fun. However, the joy didn't last.

Alphonse knocked on the door, announcing their arrival. Deliylah shivered; she could smell rain in the air and feel a sharp chill. Something wasn't right. There wasn't an answer, and the three let themselves in the unlocked door, calling out to Mr. Tucker and Nina.

The whole house was dark. The now clean kitchen and the dining room were empty. "Ed, I think I can hear something… in the lab…" she whispered, pointing the brothers in the directing of soft whispering she could hear from behind the closed door.

The door opened with a creak, causing Deliylah to shiver again, this time not from the cold. In the room she could barely see Mr. Tucker leaning over something alive; a new chimera, one she had never seen before. She had a very bad feeling about this whole situation. It all felt very wrong.

Mr. Tucker invited them inside. Something told her to hang back, to not go in, but she ignored it and followed Edward and Alphonse, leaving the door just barely open so that a sliver of light was all that illuminated the room.

"Look, it's my newest creation," Tucker beckoned the brothers to get a bit closer. "It's a chimera that understands human speech~" Deliylah flinched. She couldn't tell where from, but she could have sworn she recognized the chimera from somewhere. She stayed by the doorway, unable to bring herself to go farther into the room.

Edward, however, marveled at the new chimera, absolutely amazed by Tucker's skill. "Wow, it talks! It really talks!"

Deliylah faintly heard it whispering hoarsely. "Ed… ward… Ed… ward… Ed… ward..." A large grin spread over it's face. "Big… bruh… ther… Ed?" Deliylah's blood ran cold, and she heard Edward draw in a sharp breath. They realized it at the same time.

"Mr. Tucker… when was it you got your state licence certificate?"

"Lets see… that was two years ago."

"And when did your wife leave you?"

"... that was two years ago, too."

"One last question." Deliylah saw Ed grit his teeth. She almost didn't want him to ask. But she had to know, so she stayed silent. "Nina and Alexander… _where are they_?"

Tucker sighed, the look in his eyes changing to that of almost a madman. One she recognized. "I hate perceptive brats like you."

Edward jumped forward, slamming Tucker into the wall with one fist, screaming at him. Eventually, after enough taunting, the screaming turned to punching.

Deliylah flinched with each hit. Finally she had enough. "Alphonse, do something!" She cried out over the sound of Edward screeching and hitting Tucker over and over. But Al was already in motion. He reached forward, easily stopping Edward with one hand.

"Edward, stop it right now. Any more and you'll kill him." He pulled Ed away to where Deliylah could put her hands gently on his shoulders and guide him to the door.

Behind her she heard Tucker mutter, "Heh, pretty words don't get anything done."

Al stopped and sighed. "Mr. Tucker… if you say one more word, this time I'll be the one to snap." Deliylah swallowed nervously. She knew Al to be the gentle and kind giant, hardly ever raising a hand to anyone before talking it through. She had never heard such hate in his voice before.

She looked down at Nina, now a horribly made chimera. 'What awful work,' she thought to herself, choking back tears.

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**cries a lot Nina's story always makes me sad i just want her to be ok**  
**anyway, leave a review and tell me how you liked it! again im so sorry for how long it took wow**


	9. Chapter 9

**This one's a little all over the place, but it goes from Deliylah to Jealousy and back again~ It might be a while before I can get the next chapter out, but be patient~! Enjoy~!**

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Deliylah found herself unable to sleep. The ceiling was apparently much more fascinating to her brain than the pillow under her head or the prospect of sleep. She took a deep breath, allowing a wave of sadness to wash over her. It was only two day's ago that she had been laughing with Nina in the Tucker's large green yard, and now Nina was most likely sitting in a cage in the miserable laboratory, just another failed experiment.

She slowly sat up, unable to take staring at the ceiling anymore. Alphonse was sitting by Edward's bed, reading a book. It had taken a little while to get used to the fact that he had to stay awake all day every day. Whenever Deliylah need to wait for a little while she would take a nap, and the time seemed to fly by. But for Al it must have been slower than Deliylah could imagine. She felt sorry for him.

While in the middle of her thoughts, Edward suddenly jolted upright, breathing heavily with wide eyes filled with fear. Deliylah jumped, gripping the sheets of her own bed. She didn't know why, but she had been more than a little jumpy lately. "Edward?" She said softly. "What's wrong?"

Ed glanced at her, sweat dripping from his forehead. He then pulled his auto mail leg up to his chin. Deliylah faintly heard him mumble, "It hurts."

She slipped out of bed and gently sat beside him, placing a hand on his trembling shoulder. "Edward…"

"I… I had a nightmare," he muttered. "I'm fine."

Deliylah sighed. "…no, I don't think you are…" Edward hesitated a moment, then gritted his teeth and sat up, hugging his arms around Deliylah. Both of them knew that the other was in pain.

She held out a hand to Alphonse, who scooted over and leaned against the bed, allowing Deliylah to put her arm around his large shoulders. She comforted them silently through the night.

In the morning, Edward and Alphonse left for the Headquarters to see what would happen to Nina and Mr. Tucker while Deliylah stayed behind in the room. She leaned against the window, staring with glazed eyes at the street below. Finally she could stand confinement no longer and snuck out to the roof, locking the hotel door behind her.

Although the sun had been bright and warm when they were at the Tucker estate, clouds had formed and blocked out the rays on sunlight that were supposed to dry puddles that had formed during yesterday's rain. Deliylah laid down along the edge, letting one leg hang off the side.

As they usually did, her thoughts traveled. She wondered what Rose was doing right now, how the town was getting by without Father Cornello and their false god. She wondered how Mr. Halling and Khayal were now that they were taking care of the mines. She wondered if Edward had gotten to the Headquarters yet. She wondered what _was_ going to happen to Nina and Tucker. Although she wasn't a very hateful woman, Deliylah secretly hoped something bad happened to him. He deserved whatever punishment he got, in her mind.

She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing loudly. She had never thought when she left Lior that she would be this unhappy.

Meanwhile, a lean woman sat on a railing, observing the burning town in front of her. Had this been a century ago, she might have felt sorry for the townspeople, but she was 130 years old now, and all empathy had left her long ago.

The woman next to her, curved and beautiful, also watched the destruction. She was even older than the first woman, and had been born to their Father rather than abducted and transformed. She cared even less, and enjoyed it even more.

"Look at that, Gluttony," she remarked to the short, fat man who, like the two women, enjoyed death and destruction. It meant he got to eat. "Humans are such fools."

The leaner woman laughed quietly. "Such fools they are, indeed, Lust." The tone of her voice hinted something that she didn't say. Lust, being an intelligent woman, caught on.

"Well, you certainly weren't when you were human, Jealousy, but you aren't the people of Lior."

Jealousy chuckled. "Oh, no, I was as much as fool as the rest of them, but that was then and this is now. I've changed a lot since then. Besides…" She looked out to the chaos. "Humans really are foolish."

"Quite right, Jealousy~" A voice caught he attention of all three people on the balcony. A grin spread over Jealousy's face. Her best friend had just joined the party. "But when things work out like you plan them, that foolish quality can be _so_ nice."

Lust leaned back against the railing. "Ah, if it isn't 'Father.' Sorry you had to come all the way out here, we didn't have very many options. Besides, it was Jealousy's idea."

"Hey! You're the one that killed him, don't forget!" Jealousy slapped Lust on the shoulder playfully, carefully sliding off the railing to her feet.

"Yeah, well, when this is over I'm going back to the city that _I'm_ in charge of."

Jealousy snorted. "You're in charge of? More like Wrath and I are in charge of. You never do anything!"

"Not true, I have responsibilities just like you!"

"Cut if out, both of you, what's done is done and it worked out for everybody." Lust scolded. She sighed, turning back to the riots and the smoke reaching into the sky. "Really, I was a little worried well the Fullmetal boy messed up our plans, but as a result our work was finished ahead of schedule, so he was actually a big help~"

'Father' chuckled. "Yes… all it took was for you two to spread some propaganda among my 'followers' to get them started, and this is the result. Humans really are simple creatures."

Jealousy sighed, stretching her hands above her head. "And they only seem to get stupider and more violent with every decade that goes by."

Lust nodded in agreement. "Bloodshed begets bloodshed, hatred begets hatred. The rage and emotion sinks into the land carving a crest of blood, and no matter how many times it happens they never learn. The human race is made out of violent, miserable fools."

Jealousy thought about her own existence and what it used to be. A florist, of all things, in the mid-skirts of Central City. The only reason she had anything to do with homunculi in the first place was because her idiot best friend had decided to get in their way. As punishment for his actions they had kidnapped her brother, and later herself, and gave them fates worse than death in the eyes of Benjamin Belnic.

"Oh, and Envy, can you lose the old man costume? It's rather… unattractive." Lust's slightly disgusted remark pulled Jealousy back to the present.

"Oh, come on, I was just playing the part. But, if I'm going to change shape anyway, why should I be a crusty old geezer-" Red lights flashed and danced in the archway of the balcony as the man who looked like Father Cornello morphed into their sibling and Jealousy's personal best friend. "-when I can be young and cute?" Lust and Jealousy exchanged glances, and Jealousy giggled.

"Even though on the inside you're the most ruthless of all of us!" Lust laughed playfully.

"Pfft, I get that you look young, but 'cute' not so much~"

"You two trying to pick a fight?" His voice had change from that of an older man to the raspy, gravely voice of a younger one. He put one hand on his hip and adorned an annoyed expression, but before he and Jealousy could begin arguing, a scared shout caught their attention.

"Y-YOU'RE A MONSTER!"

The four homunculi turned to see Brother Cray, whose tooth was still chipped from his run-in with the fist of the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother. "Aw, shit, who let him up here?" Jealousy muttered under her breath. Envy snorted.

"What's going on here? Father… what happened to the real Father Cornello? What in god's name are you?"

"What should we do?" Lust asked, concerned more for their cover than the well being of the man in front of them.

Envy scoffed. "He called me a monster, I am so insulted."

Jealousy cocked an eyebrow. "Well, he's not exactly wrong, En-"

"Can I eat him?" Jealousy stopped mid-word when Gluttony, who had been silent the whole conversation, piped up with one familiar sentence.

The next minute was filled with screams and the ripping of flesh.

In Lior, the rain had been warm and soft. When Deliylah was alone she even enjoyed it. Some days she would lay on the roof of a building and close her eyes and let it wash over her, then go into her room and dry off and have a nice steaming cup of tea while she curled up in a blanket and read her book.

But the rain in Central City was different. It wasn't warm or soft like she had expected it to be. It was cold and hard and she had to get an umbrella to try and block it out because it hurt far too much.

Nina's death had come as a surprise to everybody. It had already been bad enough that she had been mutilated like that, but to be slaughtered was even worse. Tucker had deserved it, but Nina didn't deserve any of it.

The boys had come back into the room with twisted faces and quietly broken the news to her. She had curled up into her pillow and cried the whole night with Ed's hand on her back. He had to comfort her just as she had comforted him the morning of that day.

Of course she knew that she would get through this. She had been through worse. She had witnessed lives that small getting torn apart in that same way. Her own life had been ruined; she could empathize with Nina. But it still hurt more than she could describe.

She could hear Edward and Alphonse mumbling to each other about the rain. Edward described his mistakes, exactly how much he had screwed up, and he complained about how the rain on his face bugged him. Alphonse looked up into the sky and wished desperately to be able to feel the rain. Deliylah reached out to place a hand on his shoulder when a soldier called out Edwards name and began running towards the three.

"Edward! Mr. Elric! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!" He greeted them breathlessly.

Edward stood up. "What's wrong? Do you need me for something?"

The soldier nodded. "You're to report back to headquarters immediately, there's a killer on the loose in the area," he told them, just as a very tall man with an X-shaped scar across his face loomed over them, sending cold chills down Deliylah's spine that had nothing to do with the rain.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Deliylah could hear Edward draw in a sharp breath. Her legs tensed up; her fight-or-flight instinct was screaming at her to run as far and as fast as her legs would let her.

The soldier who had tried to warn them reached for his gun when he recognized the large scar running over the threatening man's forehead. Edward tried to call out to him, but it was too late. The man reached his hand up, and the soldier practically exploded from the inside out in a bright flash of light that looked suspiciously like alchemy.

Edward looked frozen in place. Deliylah silently begged him to move, to grab her hand and his brothers arm and run, but all he could do was tremble as the man stepped closer.

All three of them jumped when the bell behind them, signaling nine o'clock in morning, breaking them all out of their terrified trances. Deliylah hadn't even realized they had been out so early, but that wasn't on her mind at the moment. She pushed her hand into Edward's shoulder, screaming at him to move.

The man dashed forward, throwing his hand out to Edward. Deliylah threw the only thing she had, her umbrella, in-between them, and it shattered like glass. Pieces and scraps littered the ground, and Deliylah tossed down the remains of the handle and grabbed for her skirt.

They started racing down the stairs leading to the street, but the man pursuing them was faster. The stairs crumbled in front of them, and Alphonse had to grab his brothers ankle to keep him from breaking his neck on the ground below. Deliylah went to help pull Alphonse up, but then her stair fell apart too and the three went flying to the ground. Luckily Al landed on his feet and immediately caught Deliylah, but the man was still after them.

"Al, Deliylah, grab on!" Ed clapped his hands, and a large column pulled the three away from the man. But the man put his hand to the ground and once again everything he touched was destroyed. Al, Ed, and Deliylah once again found themselves racing down the street, passerby's exclaiming at the scene.

"What the hell is this guys problem?! Making enemies isn't something that I… well… I've never really avoided it, but there's no reason to kill me!" Ed shouted.

"Brother, Deliylah, this way!" Al popped out from an alleyway, pulling them in after him.

"What? He saw us go in there!"

"Just watch!" Deliylah stepped back to see a large transmutation circle in the mouth of the alley. A moment later and a wall blocked the path. "Now he can't follow us!"

"Nice work, Alph-"

_BAM._

Deliylah yelped in fright when the wall crumbled, the man's hand extended toward it. Ed grabbed her elbow and shoved her down the alley towards the other side.

The wall beside her began to come apart, and then the whole wall in front of her. Her vision blurred and a sharp pain went through her skull and her knees; a large piece of debris had landed on her head, taking her to the ground.

"Deliylah!"

"I-I'm fine, it's nothing," she gasped, wiping blood from her aching forehead and blinking it from her eyelashes. She tried to stand up, but could barely see where she was going, everything was spinning. She collapsed back to the ground, her hands scraping the pavement.

She could hear Ed and Al angrily confronting the man, asking why he was trying to kill them. It was fuzzy, but she could hear his answer.

"Where there are creators in this world, there must also be destroyers." He answered with a gruff voice that reminded Deliylah of gravel being crunched under a shoe.

Deliylah curled her fists, grinding her teeth at the throbbing pain in her head. She wanted to get up and fight alongside the boys, to protect them from this new threat, but the blood pulsing down her forehead prevented her from even trying.

A loud sound made her look up, and what she saw made her scream.

Alphonse, or what was left of him, collapsed to the ground in a heap. Shards of metal that was heap stripped from his hollow body littered the ground.

Deliylah heaved herself up, the world spinning around her. She didn't care; she had to help Alphonse. "AL! Al, are you alive?! Say something!"

"E-Ed… Edward…" She faintly heard his whisper, pushing himself up on a splintered arm. His armor creaked and cracked.

"Al, stop! If you put much more pressure on yourself you might-" Deliylah couldn't finish her sentence. A sharp zing followed by a painfully loud bang drew her attention, and well as Al's. She looked up just in time to see Edward fall to his knees, the remains of his automail arm crashing to the ground around him.

"Ed…" Both Al and Deliylah lay speechless for a moment. But only a moment.

"EDWARD!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, when I said a while i didn't really think I'd take almost 3 months to upload this thing. During then and now I went to Japan, so I thought I'd have it in maybe a month, but then I got lazy/distracted (I started reading One Piece and I've been completely absorbed in it.) Ah the wonderful life of a procrastinator.**  
**Any way, now that it's here, Enjoy~!**

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Edward was willing to give his life to make sure Al and Deliylah weren't hurt, but Deliylah wasn't willing to let him.

Deliylah knew she had to do something. Anything that would help Edward. She glanced at Al and shot forward towards the man leaning over Edward, slamming into him with her full weight. Her feet slipped from under her and she collapsed between him and Edward.

"I wont let you hurt him. You'll have to go through me, first," Deliylah challenged him.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'll eliminate all those in my path who get in the way. You are not an exception, young girl. If you do not step aside, I will kill you," he warned.

"Then do it," she snarled back. His lip twitched, and he reached forward. His fingers stopped an inch from her face, and behind his dark glasses his eyes went wide. He had seen her now drenched skin, brown as his own. Alphonse was screaming.

A gunshot jumped her, causing her to let out a sharp yelp and Edward to flinch under her. It was only then did she realize that both ends of the street were completely blocked by military cars, and Mustang was standing in the rain, holding a smoking gun. "That's enough," he stated, his eyes staring intently at the scarred man. The warning was clearly meant for him. "That was pretty close you two," he glanced at Edward and Deliylah.

"Colonel, he's-!"

"That man is suspected in the serial killings of state alchemists, and judging on from what I'm seeing, that suspicion just came fact. The murder at the Tucker estate... let me guess, that was you too?"

Deliylah flinched, looking up at the scared man whose attention had been taken from the children on the ground in front of him. He was the one responsible for the slaughter of the Tuckers. She felt herself began to tremble, although she didn't know if it was with fear or hatred.

The murderer clenched his fist. "The world was made perfect by God. Alchemists change the natural into the unnatural, twisting things out of their true form. They sin by defacing God's creation. I am an instrument of divine judgement!" Something about his preachings was familiar to Deliylah, but she couldn't place exactly where she had heard it before.

Mustang nodded. "Makes sense, but why do you only target state alchemists when there are so many other alchemists you could kill?"

The man ignored the question. "If you insist on stopping me, I'll just eliminate you too."

Deliylah took her eyes from the conversation and instead focused on Edward, who was struggling to sit up. "Ed, are you ok?"

Edward looked up at her in disbelief. "What were you doing, throwing yourself in front of me like that? You could have been killed!"

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to hear that coming from you, you just did the same thing for Al and me! I'm not just going to sit back and watch, not again!"

Edward opened his mouth to argue, but gunshots interrupted him. The two turned around to see the man who had attacked them jumping around to avoid shots fired by Lieutenant Hawkeye, his feet just barely skimming the ground. Just then, Lieutenant Havoc reached them, placing his arms around Ed's and Deliylah's wet shoulders. Mustang was on the ground.

The man peeked out from the corner he had leapt behind. "State alchemists, sympathizers, and everyone who tries to stop me! I will destroy everyone here!"

Suddenly a large man, completely muscle, loomed over the murderer with a fist in the air, ready to strike. "Go ahead and try," he shouted, his deep voice booming throughout the wrecked street. He swung down, shattering the ground under his knuckles when the man jumped out of the path of his attack. "hmm, you dodged that... not bad." The newcomer stepped forward, his large mustache soaked with rain but still looking just as full as ever. "You brazen insurrectionary, I've had enough of you! You want to destroy everyone here? Don't make me laugh! Why don't you try to beat me first?! I'm the Strongarm Alchemist, Alex Louis Armstrong!"

As the two engaged in battle, Deliylah sat, wondering. "Something…," she muttered.

"Huh?" Ed looked up. "Whats wrong?"

"Something… something's…" she searched for the right word. "Something's… familiar… about him… his fighting style, and what he's saying… I know it from somewhere..." She thought hard, unable to grasp just where she knew these things from. She was brought out of her thoughts when Lieutenant Havoc started yelling, scolding him.

"Major! Don't tear up the whole street!"

The Major then went off on a tangent about the beauty of alchemy and the laws governing the world, in the process completely stripping his coat and shirt. Meanwhile, Deliylah continued racking her brain for where she knew him from. It wasn't him exactly, his face looked unfamiliar, but his fighting style, his preaching, even his skin color itself. She subconsciously reached up under her bangs, touching her own brown skin. And when shots rang out, it clicked.

"He's Ishvalan like me!" she gasped, clasping her hand to her mouth.

Edward looked up at her, but didn't have any time to question what she had just said, because the gasps of everybody else confirmed it. Lieutenant Hawkeye had been shooting at him, and while she barely grazed him with one shot, she had hit his glasses. His eyes were as red as Deliylah's own right iris.

She jumped up, pushing past one of the many soldiers who had surrounded the scarred man.

"Red-eyed brother, why are you doing this? Why are you disgracing the name of Ishvala with pointless slaughter?!" Deliylah flipped her wet bangs out of her face, fully revealing to him who she really was; an Ishvalan survivor, just like him.

He glanced at her, his ruby eyes widening when they confirmed his earlier suspicions. He had indeed seen the face of his people on this girl. "Let me ask you a question. Why do you, a child of Ishvala, travel with a state alchemist and side with the military, the very people who destroyed our home?" He questioned her.

"I don't travel with the Fullmetal Alchemist, I travel with my friends, Edward and Alphonse Elric. They're too young to have been in the war. Ed was a child when it ended. I've witnessed his kindness firsthand, and I know that, even though he's a dog of the military, he hasn't given his soul up to them quite yet," she replied.

"And what about the rest of them? These people around you whom you protect, they served in the war, they destroyed our people!"

"I know that! Don't think a day goes by I don't remember what Colonel Mustang did to my people, I met him personally! But I saw in his eyes long ago that he was sorry for what he did, and I forgave him, because that is what Ishvala would want!"

The mans lip twitched. "You think Ishvala would have wanted you to forget every-"

Deliylah cut him off. "No! Not forget! I'll never forget what I went through, but I won't let my anger out on those who don't deserve it, and I won't use our loving Ishvala as an excuse for wanton slaughter!" She screeched, tears running down her face, switching with the rain and washing away what makeup was left.

She gasped, a hand landing softly on her shoulder. She looked over to see Mustang, a hardened look on his face. His other hand was raised, and each rifle around them was pointed at the Ishvalan man at the center.

"Don't try to run for it, you're surr-" Mustang was unable to finish his statement. The man threw his hand to the ground, and Deliylah had to stumble backwards to avoid falling in the massive hole that yawned before them. The man was gone.

Deliylah sank to her knees, exhausted and shaking from leftover adrenaline that pumped through her body during her latest brush with death. Mustangs hand was no longer on her shoulder, but she could feel his eyes on her. She had told him that what he had thought was true, that she had indeed known him before their meeting at Central Station. Deliylah could hear Edward and Alphonse arguing, but she was too tired to hear what they were arguing about. Only when she heard Al's anger turn to desperation did she look up at the boys. They looked awful, falling apart at the seams.

She tugged on the pant leg of the closest soldier, who happened to be Lieutenant Hawkeye. "Can I borrow your jacket? Mine won't cover Ed's shoulders," she murmured.

Lieutnant Hawkeye smiled softly, slipping off her jacket and helping Deliylah slowly make her way to the brothers shattered forms. She placed a hand on Al's knee, fretting over the both of them.

"I'm sorry, Deliylah," Ed mumbled, still sitting on the ground.

"What for?"

"I made you put yourself in harms way to save me. I shouldn't have done that."

Deliylah chuckled quietly. "Edward, I'm always ready to put myself in harm's way for my friends. You brothers are important to me, I couldn't bear to see you killed and if I can prevent it, I will."

"... why?"

Deliylah paused at the question. "I'm sorry?"

"Why do you care? I'm a dog of the military, why should an Ishvalan like you care about me?"

She didn't answer right away. She thought for a moment, wondering herself why. She truly believed the answer she had given the man who attacked them, but why else? Why did she run after the boys back in Lior? Why has she been running with them ever since?

She sighed. "Because I owe you."

-

The three were brought back to hq and briefed about the man who attacked him. They were told that the military had no information about his identity, so they called him Scar. When Edward made a confused face after the Colonel mentioned the war, Colonel Mustang began to explain, and Deliylah realized that while Edward knew of the war, he didn't know anything about it.

Each sentence brought back harsh memories of her early childhood. She had been four years old when it started, and her skin had already begun to change. She remembered the endless nights of terror as her family ran for years from the fighting. Then, seven years ago, her entire village was taken out in one blow. She had idled behind to pick up a doll she had dropped. Suddenly her ears were ringing, and she was on the ground. She looked up, and-

She was pulled out of her memories when Colonel Mustang mentioned the state alchemists. "They were recruited as human weapons. It was an opportunity to test their suitability for war. I was one of those alchemists." Oh yes, she remembered him well. When she was taken in, she would often serve tea to thirsty, tired soldiers. She had seen at the time Major Mustang plenty of times to know his face, although he had grown less tired and more clean and handsome over time as the looks of war had buried themselves deep. "That's why there's a certain justice that one of the last surviving Ishvalans would seek revenge."

Edward piped up beside Deliylah. "It's still not justice. Whatever happened, he's still involving innocent people for the sake of his revenge. He's just candy-coating it by calling himself righteous and saying he's doing it for his 'God.'" This way he spat the last word made Deliylah uneasy.

Colonel Mustang made a speech to his men about not hesitating if they saw Scar again, while Deliylah brought one knee up to her chin, muttering just loud enough for Ed to hear. "You don't need to put so much hatred the words 'his God.'"

"And why not," Ed asked hot-headedly, unaware of how offensive his question was.

Deliylah stood up straight, towering over the younger and much shorter boy. "Because his God is my God. We are both children of Ishvala, and anything you say to insult his religion insults me, so please watch what you say in the future. I accept and respect that you don't believe in any God, but I have my own faith and you should return the favor by respecting mine." Edwards eyes were wide with guilty realization.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Her calm anger faded instantly. An apology was all she needed. "It's ok, Edward."

Colonel Mustang waited a few moments before taking his turn in conversation with her. "What you said to Scar, are you really little Deliylah, the girl from the encampment?"

She sighed. "If you mean the small Ishvan child who often made tea for the soldiers, yes, that would be me. I remember you too, Colonel. You were a Major at the time, and you looked much younger, both physically and mentally. I remember others too. I remember a young sniper who looked like she didn't want to be there, and a man with glasses who said that the tea I gave him was 'the best damn cuppa he'd had in a long while.' I don't remember their names, but I remember their hardened faces all the time," she said, glancing at First Lieutenant Hawkeye and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, who had indeed been the ones she had mentioned. Both shifted uncomfortably.

Silence lingered. Nobody really thought about telling anyone higher up about her, especially since she was with the Fullmetal Alchemist. Besides, they had given her enough trouble as it was. Finally Lieutenant Colonel Hughes turned back to the brothers. "So, what are you going to do now, boys?"

After a bit of a row in which every one of Colonel Mustangs subordinates took their turns insulting them, Edward sighed angrily. "Fine, I have no choice. I have to go see my mechanic."

Deliylah perked up. "Your mechanic?" She had heard of his mechanic before; she had been the only to make Edwards prosthetic limbs. However he didn't really say much more than that, although he did speak very highly on the rare chances that he mentioned her.

"Yeah. Her name is Winry, she lives in Resembool back out East. Man, this is gonna be tough, she always freaks out whenever I break this thing," Ed mumbled.

Deliylah giggled, wincing at the pain in her head. The first aid nurse who had tended to her wound said that there was no permanent harm, but she did have a mild concussion. She softly placed her icebag back up to her head. "To Resembool it is, then."

* * *

**Don't expect the next chapter any time soon. I've been sort of distanced from FMA for now, but I'll be back soon... I hope... although I may start a One Piece fanfic with my oc from that. Great. Another one.**


	11. Chapter 11

i stg i didn't mean to take 3 months to write this but senior year of high school has been kicking my butt and it might take about as long to write the next part too im so sorry i swear im trying and i just got myself back into fma again and im trying my best to write

Enjoy~!

* * *

Deliylah sat back in the train seat, thinking about what had just happened. Not with Scar the previous day, but with Doctor Marco just a few minutes ago. They had stopped in a small town when Major Armstrong, who has accompanying them, had recognized an old state alchemist who had disappeared after the war.

They had followed the old Doctor all the way to his house, and after a touchy reunion involving a gun in which Ed almost got shot, Doctor Marco invited them in and soon revealed his biggest secret: he possessed a Philosophers Stone, the very thing Edward had been searching for, created by his own hands. Deliylah hadn't said a word when he mentioned how it was connected to Ishval, but she still wondered why something like the Philosophers Stone would be responsible for death.

When Doctor Marco gave Edward a slip of paper saying "National Library, First Branch," Edward's face had lit up. He finally was drawing close to a reliable lead. Deliylah smiled softly. Progress was always good.

Meanwhile, Doctor Marco closed his door, sighing. He froze when he heard the light shuffling of papers behind him, and turned to see two women, one sifting through his documents with a smirk and the other sitting in a chair, waiting for him.

"It's been a while Marco. We were tailing the Fullmetal boy, and you just dropped into our laps." Lust murmured, her deep voice dripping with danger. The smirk resting on Jealousy's face broke into a full blown grin when Marco slammed his back against the door in terror. A couple of the documents Jealousy handled slipped sloppily on the floor, and she didn't bother to pick them up. She hardly paid any attention to the conversation going on beside her; Lust was better at talking to others anyway. She was the sexy one. Jealousy was the professional, the one who talked to those who had no sexual or desperate motivation, even if it meant playing nice as a military-

Whatever she was thinking was cut off when sparks flew and the wall morphed. Jealousy cried out to her 'sister' a moment too late, and blood splattered the floor. She knew all too well that as homunculi, the two women would regenerate, but it still bothered her to see her family skewered. She sighed when Lust cackled softly lifting her head up from its slumping position. "How mean of you, now you've made me die once…"

"Goddamn, Lust, don't let your guard down like that, I almost forgot we couldn't die like humans can," Jealousy grumbled, playfully pouting. She calmly placed her hand on the alchemic spike still resting through Lusts abdomen; when she tensed her hand, concentrating her energy on one spot, the spike exploded, allowing Lust to pull away and her physical regeneration to force the rest of the stone out of her body, red lights dancing across her skin until it was as good as new.

"Oh, I do apologize, Jealousy, I myself had forgotten that you have human-like feelings of family about us. You really do need to lighten up." Jealousy scoffed. "As for you, Marco, I had forgotten that you're another alchemist to use as a human sacrifice… well now, what should I do with you…" Her question was answered when a small child bounded through the door, unaware of what was going on inside.

"Doctor Marcoh, I brought flowers!" Jealousy only lingered on the fact that the child called him by his real name instead of his false one for a moment, as she was distracted by Lust's ultimate spear piercing the door on either side of the child's neck, pinning her in place.

"Lust…" Jealousy growled warningly. She had her own reasons for disliking the endangerment of children. Had this kid been an adult or even a teen, she would care a lot less, but children were a whole different story. Too many emotions, too much caring.

But it worked. By the time Lust walked out the door, the homunculi had gotten the information they needed. After delivering a threat, Lust beckoned Jealousy and bounced down the stairs, a content grin across her lips. Jealousy, on the other hand, was a bit more annoyed.

"So? Do we keep an eye on the alchemist?"

"No. We have to get to Marcoh's notes about the Stone before the boy does. We're going to the library."

Meanwhile, the train to Resembool finally came to a stop at the desired station. Delilyah picked up her suitcase and stepped off the train to a bright landscape of rolling hills dotted with small houses. She took a deep breath, taking in the fresh scent of the country. It smelt amazing.

Deliylah lengthened her stride to catch up with Ed, who had walked ahead of her. "You two grew up here?"

"Sure did. It hasn't changed one bit."

Alphonse, still packed in the box slung over Major Armstrong's shoulder, was just able to see over the edge to his hometown. "Nope, not at all. Hey Deliylah, this place must be a lot different from where you grew up, huh?"

Deliylah giggled. "Actually, this is sort of similar, although there weren't very many trees, and my home was in the desert instead of the country, so it was sand rather than grass. But the rolling hills do seem familiar. The smell, on the other hand, is quite different. A lot fresher and cleaner."

Edward laughed. "Yeah, we don't have any of the city pollution like in Central City. Come on, it's this way." He quickened his pace up a road leading uphill. He pointed to a spot nearly a mile up the path. "That's the house up there. Ready for a hike?"

"Sure am," Deliylah grinned. "Say, Edward, what kind of person is Winry? I don't think you've really said much about her."

He scoffed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, she's violent, that's for sure. Whenever I do something to my automail, she always hits me with a wrench or something. But she's also kind and considerate, and she's probably the strongest girl I know."

Delilyah smiled, imagining the kind of girl Edward described. She decided that she was going to get along very well with Winry.

The road on the way to the Rockbell estate provided a breathtaking view of the town. Farms gave the land a quilt-like look, and small pinpoint dots moving around gave it an open liveliness that Delilyah hadn't really even seen in Lior. The buildings were so far apart, she felt like the town itself could go on forever.

A dog barking pulled her attention away from the lovely scenery and to a small yellow two-story house with a hand painted sign out front reading 'Rockbell Automail Mechanics.' A short old lady with a strangely upright bun stood waiting for her customers to make their way up to her house, a trail of smoke drifting from a pipe in her mouth to the clear blue sky. Edward waved to her, a large grin on his face. "Hey, Granny Pinako, I'm gonna need your help with something!"

"Oh dear, what did you do now, Edward?"

"Heh, a lot's happened, can you fix us up?"

Pinako chuckled. "You don't even need to ask. Where's your brother? And who are these two?"

Edward pointed to the box Major Armstrong set on the ground. "Al… it's a long story. Anyway, this is Major Alex Louis Armstrong, from Central." Pinako shook his hand. She looked tiny compared to him. "And this," Ed motioned to Deliylah. "Is my friend Deliylah Hayes. I met her in Lior, and she's been traveling with me for a little while." Pinako also shook Delilyah's hand.

"I hope Edward isn't giving you too much trouble?"

Deliylah giggled. "More than enough, but it's fine~" She glanced around, eager to meet Winry.

"Is it just me," Pinako spoke, "or since the last time I saw you Ed, have you gotten shorter?" Deliylah's attention went back to the little old woman. Edward had kicked in the face of a full grown man just because he called Ed a runt. She tensed, getting ready to hold him back.

However, he only snapped and called her short in return. There were several back and forth short comments, and both were quite mad. Deliylah and Major Armstrong exchanged looks. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large metal object, something that looked suspiciously like a wrench, came flying and smacked Edward upside the head, causing Deliylah to jump out of the way. A feminine, condescending voice sounded from the balcony. "Edward, how many times have I told you to call before you come back for maintenance?!"

Edward immediately sat up, clutching a now throbbing head. "Winry! You could have killed me!"

The girl, a buff blond stained in greasy oil, then changed demeanor, giggling with a broad smile across her face. "Ha ha ha, Welcome back~!" Deliylah felt herself grin like a dork. Winry was exactly like how she had imagined; smooth muscles evidence of a hard worker and a strong girl, a genuine, wholehearted, charismatic smile plastered across a young optimistic face. Bright blue eyes and straight blond hair clearly giving away that she was pure blooded Amestrian. Edward grumbled, pulling himself off the ground.

Pinako invited the group inside, and Winry disappeared back into the house to quickly wash up and meet them downstairs. Just before entering the house, Deliylah pulled Edward aside for a quick question.

"Ed… how do the Rockbells feel about Ishvalans," she asked warily. She greatly admired Winry already, but she wasn't sure how they thought of her people. Edward, however shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not quite sure how to answer that. Winry's parents were killed in the war, so they aren't too happy about the fighting itself, but… they are kind people. They aren't the sort to hold a whole race responsible for the death of their family. Don't worry about it, Deliylah," he patted her shoulder. "I wouldn't consider these people like family to me if they were bigoted like that."

Deliylah sighed in relief and quickly followed Edward into the cozy house, accepting a cup of tea from Pinako and seating herself next to Al.

Winry bounded down the stairs, her hair quickly combed and her face now clean. "Ed, long time no see, what are you doing back in…" She paused mid-sentence, catching sight of Edward's missing arm. She let out a confused sort of scream, pointing a finger at it.

Ed shrugged. "Yeah, sorry, it got broken."

Winry's shook with anger. "What do you mean 'it got broken?' That was my masterpiece! A state-of-the-art automail prosthetic! Just let me see the damage so I can fix it and get you out of here!" Deliylah choked on her tea, exchanging glances with Al next to her. Soon enough, Ed had a wrench thoroughly stuck in his skull.

The mechanic huffed a sigh, then turned to Deliylah. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself, I'm Winry, the unfortunate mechanic of these two knuckleheads," she rubbed her temple with one hand and outstretched the other in greeting.

Deliylah chuckled, shaking Winry's hand. "Yes, I've heard a lot about you from these 'knuckleheads.' All good things, I promise. It's really nice to finally meet you. I'm Deliylah, a recent friend."

Winry blushed. "How in the world did you manage to get stuck with them?"

She eagerly opened her mouth to start explaining her tale in Lior, but Edward cut Deliylah off. "It's a long and boring tale. Besides, I've got more important things right now."

Winry huffed. "Not fair, I was finally going to get something close to an explanation." Edward ignored Winry and instead told Pinako the reason for their rush.

Upon hearing that Edward's new arm would take only three days, Deliylah was thoroughly impressed. Winry accidentally smacked Edward over and into a stack of boxes, giving him a large bump of his head. Deliylah and the boys instead went outside to wait for the mechanics to start working their magic.

Edward laid back on the grass, staring up at the sky in complete boredom. "Sheesh, there's nothing to do around here. There's not even a library."

Al, who had been brought out and sat back against the house, chuckled softly at his brother's annoyed statement. "Things have been so rough lately, maybe it's not such a bad thing to take it easy."

Deliylah, who had sat between the brothers, nodded in agreement with Al. "Too much stress isn't good for anybody, and we've been through more than enough for a while."

The shorter boy wriggled in growing impatience. "I'm not the sort of person to takes it easy!" Al sighed quietly at Deliylah, who raised an eyebrow and the edge of her grin. Then Al got an idea.

"I know, if you're so bored, why don't you go visit mom's grave?"

Deliylah's ears perked. She had nearly forgotten that since this was the boy's hometown, their late mother was buried here as well. Al decided not to go, since neither Deliylah nor Ed could carry him, and Ed instead invited the older girl along.

"You're a good enough friend, and besides, you're bored too. I can see it," Ed replied when she questioned if it was alright if she went with him. He stopped briefly and bought some flowers, the Rockbell's dog on his heels. They started down the country path again, and Deliylah was reminded of the gorgeous view.

"This place really is beautiful…" she mused to herself. Ed nodded in agreement.

The two met several people along the way, all of which expressed surprise to see their old neighbor back from the world of Central and still just as short as ever. Each of them also greeted Deliylah, and one even wondered if she was Edward's girlfriend. Both brushed the comment of quickly and changed the subject. Soon they were on their way once more.

A cemetery came into view after not long. It was clean and well kept, and each headstone was neatly placed next to it's neighbor. Deliylah lamented on the fact that the dead were laid to rest there, and sadly remembered what she was taught of the afterlife in Ishval. Ed led Deliylah to one particular stone, passing by two with bore the name "Rockbell." The grave Edward paid attention to read "Trisha Elric." His and Alphonse's mother. He set the flowers down in front of the headstone, his face sad.

They stood in silence for a moment before Deliylah got an idea. "Edward… do you mind if I… say a few words? It's sort of traditional to give a prayer to the late loved one's to dear friends…"

Ed smiled. "Go ahead, I don't mind at all."

Deliylah nodded and sat on her knees, clasping her hands together in her lap and bowing her head, her native Ishvalan tongue reciting a simple prayer for the deceased which translated to "_Thank you, Miss Elric, for raising the brothers to hold such kind and open hearts. They have made a few mistakes along the way, but they are strong and brave, and they have you to thank for it, as do I. I hope you find peace in your passing, whether you rejoin Ishvala or if you hold a different deity dear._" She bowed softly and stood back up, brushing the dirt off her skirt.

Footsteps drew her attention to Edward, who was walking away. "There's another place I want to visit. Come on, I'll show you." Deliylah raised an eyebrow in confusion and followed Ed up a road to a simple charred plot of land where a house once was. All that was left were burned bricks and a dead tree.

She took her glove off and crumbled some brick between her fingers. "What happened here?"

"This used to be my house. Al and I burned it down when I got my state license."

"Why did you do that?"

He sighed, closing his eyes. "So we wouldn't be able to turn back. What we're going isn't easy, and it would be all too tempting to go back to the safety of our home. So we destroyed it. We're going to get our bodies back." He glanced and Deliylah. "It's not that bad of a thing, really. I'm sure you've been through worse."

She scoffed. "Edward, tragedy isn't a pissing contest. You've had it bad, I've had it bad, our lives are both awful, simple as that."

He nodded in agreement, chuckling. "I guess you're right. Come on, let's go back, it's getting late."

When they left, the sun with just at the horizon. By the time they got back, the sun had gone down completely, and Deliylah could see millions of stars she hadn't noticed in the city or the dusty sky of Lior. The last time she had had a view of the cosmos like that was back in Ishval, before the war had even been considered.

The next morning, Deliylah was woken to the sounds of grinding and whirring. She sat up, combing her bedhead down to a presentable state before getting dressed exiting the room to find the source of the sound.

She found it in Winry's workroom, where the blond had been drilling away since the night before. Gears, wires, and metal shavings littered the ground. Deliylah hid behind the door frame, peeking around the corner and watching the girl work with fascination.

Winry paused working for a moment and turned around, feeling eyes on the back of her head. Deliylah squeaked and ducked around the corner, her face heating up from the embarrassment of being caught staring. The younger girl chuckled. "It's alright, Deliylah, you can come in and watch me work as long and you don't bother me."

Deliylah hung her head, her face still thoroughly pink. "You don't mind?"

"Nah, you're pretty quiet to start with, so you're not a bother. Besides, I wanted to ask you a question."

"Oh, sure," Deliylah replied, pulling up a chair next to the mechanic. "Ask away."

"Well, first of all, I swear I wasn't snooping, I just…" Winry trailed off. "Well, to put it plainly, I saw your skin. You're Ishvalan, aren't you?" Deliylah froze, a cold rush going through her. Winry saw her reaction and was quick to correct herself. "I-I don't have a problem with it, you know! My parents helped the Ishvalan people during the war, and my Granny had plenty of Ishvalan friends, so-"

"Winry. It's fine," Deliylah assured her. She trusted Edward's word about Winry, and was hopeful that she would be able to trust Ed's closest friend with her secret. She pulled her bangs back, letting Winry see her face in full. The younger leaned it, getting a closer look with wide blue eyes.

"Woah… what caused that?"

Deliylah shrugged. "According to my village doctors, it's a disease. My immune system is attacking the pigments in my skin. By the time I'm fifty they predicted that almost all of my brown skin will be gone." She chuckled. "Although, according to my parents and the other children in my village, I was cursed by Ishvala to look like the Amestrians. Of course, if Ishvala wanted to make me look like an Amestrian, he was have made me have your hair and eyes, not fading brown skin and white hair."

"White? But yours is brown…"

"I dye it. White hair on a seventeen year old is kind of a dead giveaway."

Winry giggled, tightening a screw. "Oh, right, I guess that does make sense."

The two girls talked for a few hours; Deliylah told Winry stories about what happened in Lior, how Edward helped with the train hijacking, and about Scar. She left out Nina and Mr. Tucker. Winry told Deliylah about old memories with the brothers before they and tried the transmutation, and, at Deliylah's request, she also taught her a bit about automail so that Deliylah could at least know a thing or two about Edward's fake limbs. When dinner was finally called, Ed and Al were perplexed by how close the two had suddenly gotten.

Three days went by with very little action. Winry spent all her time crafting Ed's arm. Major Armstrong constantly trained in the front yard where Al sat with Edward. Deliylah took several walks out in the country side, reveling in the fresh, clean air. At noon on the third day, Deliylah approached Al and realized that Ed was nowhere to be found. "Where's your brother?"

"Oh, Deliylah, Winry finished the arm! He's inside getting his arm and leg put back on, and after that he's gonna come out here and fix me!"

"That's wonderful Al!"

Racing footsteps caught her attention. "Al! Hey Al! Sorry for making you wait so long!" Edward's arm and leg were back in their correct place, as if Scar had never attacked at all. The only reminder of it was Al's still morphed body and Deliylah's dull headache from the concussion she had forgotten she had.

While Ed gathered up Al's scraps, Deliyah headed back inside to congratulate Winry and help clean up. From the balcony she heard the clanging of metal on metal, and glanced outside to see Ed and Al sparing as per usual. Soon enough Major Armstrong stripped his shirt off and joined the fray.

In the midst of running away from Armstrong's massive form, Ed called up to Deliylah observing from the balcony. "Deliylah! Come join our sparring! You never usually fight with us, it'd be good exercise!"

"I-I don't know, I don't really have clothes fit for fighting…"

"Then borrow some of Winry's, you two are about the same size!"

Winry immediately pulled open her drawer and took a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, pushing it into Deliylah's arms along with a hair tie. Reluctantly she changed, pulling awkwardly at the clothing was was too small to cover all of her skin. While Edward and Alphonse, who regularly saw it when she wore a similar outfit as nightwear, took no notice of her patchy skin, multiple times she caught Major Armstrong and Winry staring, and when she caught their eye they quickly looked away with a blush on their cheeks.

Ed and Al were formidable opponents, but with Armstrong taking most of their attention, Deliylah managed to hold her own, and by the end, when the sun was at the horizon, all four were covered in dirt and out of breath, eager for Pinako's delightful cooking.

That night, Edward fell into Deliylah's lap and went out like a light, lightly snoring with his stomach exposed as always. Al, of course, sighed softly at his brother's recklessness.

"Aw, Ed, you'll catch a cold if you keep sleeping with your stomach out like this…"

Deliylah giggled. "Maybe you should tell him that when he's awake, Al."

Pinako laughed from behind him. "Heh, it's almost like you're his parent, huh?"

"That's true," he replied softly. "It's not easy having such a high maintenence older brother."

Winry sat down beside Deliylah, having put a blanket over Edward's sleeping form. "I can't even tell which of you is the older brother anymore."

Deliylah chuckled again, looking down at Edward. Now that she thought about it, Edward was always so hot-headed, and Al was always so calm. It seems like if Al wasn't there, Ed would have nothing to hold him back from destroying whatever made him mad, like remarks to his height.

Al's chuckle drew back Deliylah's attention. "What's so funny, Al?"

"Seeing him laying there, I'm reminded of the time we went to the Youswell mining town. You remember that, right Deliylah?"

"Of course, how could I forget! It was the first place we went after Lior, and we got caught in a house fire."

"What? How does this remind you of that?"

"The miners were being taxed out of their livelihoods by the Lieutenant who owned the mines and wanted our help. At first brother had no intention of helping them, but when he heard the miner boss say 'the mines are our homes and our graves, he ended up helping them out after all. He was pretty reckless too."

"He was brilliant though, and he really saved that town. I wonder how Mr Halling and Khayal are doing now."

Pinako laughed, puffing at her pipe. "'This is our home,' huh? I understand, you guys know better than anyone what it feels like to have a home and then lose it. Even you, Deliylah." She nodded. Ishval had been her home, her village was where she was born and raised, and then it was all destroyed in less than a decade.

"Yup. That's why I appreciate how you and Winry always welcome us back like we're your real family. You don't even know Delilyah, and you welcomed her with open arms." Delilyah dipped her head, a blush on her cheeks, giving a glance to Winry. "My brother feels the same way too, even though he never says it. At the same time, the reality is that the three of us no longer have the homes we were born and raised in. Edward and I don't regret burning our house down, but sometimes… we just feel this overwhelming sadness. Maybe we could get over it if we just had a good cry, but with this body, I can't cry even if I wanted to."

Winry sighed with a chuckle. "And there's that idiot who had a body that can cry, but won't. He really tries to be tough, that idiot."

The next morning The three had their things packed and ready for the train to Central city to find Doctor Marco's research notes. Edward and Deliylah tugged their gloves gloves on and picked up their cases.

Al glanced around. "Hey, where's Winry?"

"She did so many all nighters in a row that she's still asleep," Pinako replied. "Want me to make her?"

Ed shrugged. "Don't bother. If you woke her up she'd just go on about automail maintenance."

"Oh, don't worry, Ed. She told me about your maintenance and asked me to keep an eye on it for you," Deliylah chuckled. Ed rolled his eyes.

"Edward! Alphonse! Deliylah!" A call made all three turn to see a very disheveled Winry leaning on the balcony. She had woken up and dragged herself all the way to the balcony to say goodbye. "See you later."

Ed, Al, and Deliylah all waved to her, then walked away from the house to the train station, eager to get to the library and make long-due progress on the Philosophers Stone.

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I'll try my best to get another part out sooner. I really didn't feel like writing the part with Marco cause she doesn't do anything. I'll probably do the same with the whole "finding out about the Stones true nature" thing cause all she does is make tea for them and fret a lot.

Please leave a review, I really would like to know how you liked this one~!


	12. Chapter 12

WOW. WOW OH MAN OH BOY. Remember when I said I was gonna try and update sooner? Yeah, that didn't happen. Im so sorry, I fell out of the fandom for a bit, focusing on other things, and I totally forgot about this for nearly a whole year! But here it is now, I guess, so that's great. Also, it's 4 in the morning atm, so I am very tired.

Enjoy~!

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Human lives. Actual real live humans. Deliylah understood why Marco had blamed the Stone for death in Ishval. He must have used her people's lives to make it.

When Edward had thrown his material across the room, Deliylah had no idea what had caused him to lash out like that. She had pressed herself up against the wall in fear, dropping what she was holding and nearly crying out. When Ross and Brosh came in and asked what was so awful about it, Edward's answer made Deliylah sick.

It took a toll on the brothers, too. Edward refused to eat or sleep, or even leave the room. Alphonse stayed by his brothers side, being unable to do the those things in the first place. Deliylah also stayed with them, allowing Edward to use her lap as a pillow while he stared at the ceiling in silence. She read her book, the new information hanging heavy in the back of her mind. She payed no attention to what the boys were saying to each other, but she was pulled away from her page by the loud banging on the door.

Major Armstrongs booming voice came through the door at an alarming volume. "Edward and Alphonse?! Miss Deliylah?! Are you in there?! It is I, the Major, open the door!"

Edward groaned. "Ignore him! Just ignore him! The doors locked, so we can pretend we're not-"

Pretending did not help. Armstrong instead smashed through the door, making Deliylah jump almost to the ceiling. She expected him to maybe berate them about being locked in their room for several days straight, or maybe to demand an explanation for their introverted behavior, but instead he burst into tears and began crying about how awful the secret of the Stone was. Edward looked about ready to kill Brosh and Ross, who had sworn not to tell anybody. That was when Brosh noticed that Edward's arm was automail.

"Oh, yeah, I had- um, a little mishap back in the Civil War back East!" Edward lied. Deliylah raised an eyebrow behind her bangs, reminding herself to later tell Edward how horrible of a liar he was.

Brosh, however, fell for it immediately.

"The truth can be so cruel, can't it," Armstrong lamented, and Edward flinched.

"Ed? What's wrong?"

Ed turned around to his brother and friend, his eyebrows furrowed and his hand to his lips. "Al, Deliylah, do you remember what Marco said to us back at the station? Try to think back." Both exchanged looks. "'The truth that lies within the truth,' remember? So there must me something more…"

Delilyah took a step forward. "Maybe… maybe he was trying to tell us to figure out who ordered him to make the stone? The one behind it all?"

Ed clapped. "That could be it! Major, do you happen to have a map of Central City?"

"Of course, Edward!" He left and came back several minutes later with a map the size of the coffee table. "Presently, the military oversees four alchemical research labs within Central City. The one Doctor Marco was affiliated with was laboratory three. This is the most likely where the research took place."

Edward shook his head. "I went to all the laboratories right after I got my state licence, but I don't remember there being any kind of significant research going on there… wait, over here! What's this place," he asked Ross, pointing to a crossed out building.

"In the past, that was the fifth research lab, but they shut it down years ago. Currently the building is off limits due to danger of collapse."

Deliylah didn't understand much of what Edward was saying, although she did understand when he said that they were using prisoners to make the stone, but her real concern was when Al asked who was in charge.

"According to the registry, it's Brigadier General Basque Grand, 'The Iron-Blooded Alchemist."

"Why don't we start by contacting this General Grand?"

'No, no, please no, don't agree to this, he can't know I'm here!' Deliylah began to tremble ever-so-slightly, just enough so that the boys or the Major couldn't see it. But she felt it, just as she felt the rush of terror at his name. However, Armstrong's reply surprised her even more.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. He was murdered by Scar just a few days ago."

"H-He what?"

Edward turn to her. "Did you know him?"

She flinched. The memory was hardly a pleasant one. "I-I… yeah… a long time ago…"

"Oh dear… I remember that, too, you poor thing…" Armstrong commented softly. She nodded, he had been sitting a ways away, unable to do anything for fear of court martial.

Ed and Al exchanged looks. "Is he the guy that took you in?"

"No… but he was just as bad. I… I don't want to talk about it… You said that he's dead?"

Armstrong nodded, rolling up the map. "Scar has killed numerous state alchemists that were affiliated with military command. Among those killed, there may have been someone who knew the truth. If someone of higher rank than the Brigadier General is involved with this project, then the situation may be truly complicated. I'll investigate this on my own and report back to you when I know more.

Perhaps an hour after Armstrong left, Deliylah paced the room opposite to where Ed and Al sat by the window.

"Thinking anything good over there, Deliylah," Ed called out to her.

"A number of things. Major Armstrong may be good, but I doubt he can intimidate his superiors into giving him this information. The fifth lab is closed off, so he wouldn't be able to actually get inside without formal permission, which could take days for him to get. What are we supposed to do in the meantime? Mope around?"

"Well… we could investigate ourselves," Ed replied.

She paused her pacing to give him a stern look. "We promised the Major we wouldn't do anything to brash."

Ed smirked sheepishly. "Did you cross your fingers behind your back, too?"

Deliylah crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. After several seconds of staring him down, she shrugged in defeat. "I honestly can't think of anything to argue. What's the plan?"

Next thing she knew, the three repelled out the window using a transmuted bedsheet and raced down the street.

The three followed the street lanes through the dusty city, passing by houses and large warehouse-like buildings until they came upon a large structure with a fence topped in barbed wire and a guard waiting out front. The street lamp was on despite the building being abandoned.

"Very suspicious. How are we gonna get in," Ed asked.

Deliylah raised an eyebrow, peeking around the corner. "I doubt we can just go ask?" Ed gave her a playful hit on the shoulder.

"We could just make our own entrance."

"They'd notice the light from the transmutation."

Deliylah looked up and tapped her friend on the arm. Ed smirked, and if Al had a face he'd of done so too.

Al clasped his hands together and knelt down, allowing Ed to place his foot in and promptly tossing him up to the top of the wall. Deliylah wrapped her arms around Al's neck, careful not to grab his helmet for fear of it falling off; she wasn't too keen on breaking her ankle. Ed lowered some wire, made a smart remark about the occasional usefulness of automail, and held it steady for Al to haul himself and Deliylah up. Landing on the other side quietly wasn't to difficult a feat, but they were presented with yet another problem. The door was barred and sealed, preventing any sort of entry that wouldn't attract the attention of the guard out front.

Careful examination of the building brought their attention to a vent. Ed stood on Al's shoulders and peered through. "It seems large enough for me to crawl through. What about you, Deliylah?"

She climbed up behind Ed and examined the vent herself. "I can get my head through, so my shoulders are no problem. It's wide enough for my hips, too, so I don't think I'll have much trouble."

Ed nodded and told Al to stay behind while he and Deliylah pulled themselves into the vent and shimmied their way through.

After when seemed like an hour of pulling themselves along and getting stuck more than once, and Edward commenting on his own height (his reaction of which gave Deliylah quite a scare,) he popped out a vent panel and dropped down into a dimly lit hall, helping Deliylah down behind him. Rubble and dirt littered the floor, but it seemed just a bit too clean, like people had recently walked through the halls.

"There's just enough light to illuminate the floor. Abandoned, huh?" He and Deliylah traded glances, smirks crossing their lips, then bolted down the hall. "Bingo."

It didn't take them very long to find the main room, a large area with a tall ceiling and pillars dotting the perimeter, casting shadows along the back walls. What was more alarming, however, was the dark circle painted in the middle of the room. Bloodstains decorated the circumference, and it all smelled… wrong. Deliylah went to the right to check and make sure there wasn't anything important while Ed made observations out loud when the clunk of armor stopped her.

"How did Al-"

But her question of answered before she finished it. The armor that entered the room was not Al. The hair was longer, and there was much more cloth than metal, whereas Al only had a loincloth.

"I don't know who you are, but you seem to know much about the stone… too much."

"Wh-who are you," Deliylah asked, her voice betraying her sudden fear.

"I have been entrusted to guard this place. For now you may refer to me as Number 48." Seconds later, Edward had transmuted his arm, and the armor lunged.

Blows were blocked and dodged, and Edward's shoulder split. Luckily his automail reached up to it and was not harmed, but Deliylah cringed at the thought of brand new armor taking such a hit. Winry would have had an aneurysm.

And echoing clang resonated through the air, not unlike when the brothers sparred. Ed paused and questioned him. "Hey, I know that sound! Could it be… you're hollow inside?"

Number 48 stopped, and Deliylah could almost see him raise a brow despite likely not having any. "Very good. How did you know?"

Ed smirked. "I spar all the time with a guy just like you. I could tell just by the feel."

"Oh? There are other like myself on the outside?"

"Heh. It makes me sick knowing that there are idiots besides me who would even think of binding a soul to a suit of armor," he replied with venom in his voice.

48 paused, then began to explain who he was, recognizing that Ed was of no small talent or intelligence. A serial killer named Slicer who had been caught and officially executed, but unofficially brought down to the fifth laboratory and given a new job. He even went so far as to show Ed and Deliylah his blood seal on the back of his helmet.

"It's awfully considerate of you to show us your weak point, old man."

"Ha ha! I enjoy the thrill of danger when I battle, and don't call me old man."

"If you're that considerate, why not just let us go? Just thought I'd ask."

"Oh please, a serial killer would never let his prey escape, would he?"

Deliylah rolled her shoulders. "If we win, would you?"

"Excuse me?"

"If we win the fight, would you consider letting us go then," she repeated herself.

"Well, I'm not sure I'd have much of a choice. Where do you think this fight will go, girl? If you win, I'd likely be in pieces on the floor, so you could go wherever you pleased. Leave or continue exploring, I wouldn't mind."

She dared to press further. "And if we… lose?"

"Then you won't have to worry about anything else, girl. Now enough chatter, _here I come_!"

Blows rained upon them. Deliylah did her best to nimbly dodge the blade, but soon found her shoulder throbbing and Edward in a much worse state. Her temple pressed against her skull, and it was then that she remembered her very nearly healed concussion. Edward seemed uncomfortable, favoring his automail arm rather than his now-injured real one. Finally they stopped, and both bodied people in the room were out of breath. Ed blinked blood from his vision. They needed to end this, and fast.

Edward stalled, while Deliylah moved back into the shadows, crouching and waiting for an opportunity.

"He'll never make it in time."

"...you think so, huh?" He glanced at the door. Slicers back turned. Now.

She darted forward, her shoulders back and her gaze trained on his neck. He realized his mistake and turned to the sound of her running footsteps, blade at the read. He poised to strike, as did she.

The she dug her heel into the ground and pushed back, the tip of his blade just missing her nose just as Ed swiped, taking Slicer's head clean off. It and his body collapsed to the ground.

Ed swaggered over, high-fiving Deliylah on the way, and picked up Slicers head by the hair. He only seemed mildly annoyed, like he was more inconvenienced than beheaded. Deliylah pulled up behind him, peering over his shoulder. When he refused, Delilyah was troubled, but when she heard the creak of metal joints a thrill of fear ran through her. It took only a peak over her shoulder to realize that the body was aiming the sword straight for the kill; Edward's torso.

"Edward, move!" She shove hard on his shoulder, managing to get him out of the way enough for him to only sustain a cut to the side, but it was enough to make him cry out. While in a vulnerable position, however, the blade turned and penetrated her thigh, a stab clean through to the other side. A moment of numb shock, then burning pain shot through her whole leg. She screeched, and was pulled back as hard as she could. Her head swam with pain, and she pulled herself away with only enough focus on what was around her to hear Slicer explain that there were, in fact, _two_ killers.

'Damn! I should have known!' She felt her shoulder press up against the cold stone of the column, a jolt running through her. She payed little attention to the fight until Edward was knocked into the wall beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut, fear paralyzing her. 'I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die I'm gonna-'

A deafening bang, not unlike when Scar injured Al, echoed through the room, the volume making her flinch and cry out. Bits and pieces clattered to the ground, and when she looked up she saw that the body had been split in half. A moment later Ed slid down the wall beside her. Deliylah grasped at his sleeve, her breath ragged while she came down from the adrenaline spike.

The younger Slicer brother cried out to his elder brother in distain, but 48 just sighed. "I hate to admit it, little brother, but we've lost."

Deliylah hugged Edward, almost on the verge of tears. She'd felt fear like that before, but not for a long time. She payed no attention to any of the brother until-

_SHUNK_

The sudden sound jolted her back, and what she saw was even worse than what had happened before. The helmet twitched, then shuddered, then rose into the air suspended by… something…. That went right through the blood seal. The younger brother was screaming. The helmet finally stopped moving at the back of the room, and Deliylah finally figured out what was attacking them.

A woman, whose fingers had elongated to pierce the back of Slicers helmet, took a step into the dusty light. She had a figure similar to Deliylahs, though the newcomers hips and breasts made Deliylah feel a little small. Another figure, an oddly dressed, lean man with long locks of hair held up by a headband, stepped out from behind the woman. Deliylah felt more of a vibe of danger from these two than she had from Slicer or even Scar.

"Now now 48, don't talk about things that don't concern you." The woman had a deep, lustrous voice that reminded Deliylah of poisoned caramel.

"Hey! What's the Fullmetal runt and his pet girl doing here?" The other voice grated at her ears, both from the quality of the voice itself and the 'pet' comment. "Well, I suppose we'll have to fix that, won't we?"

"What troublesome children. I wonder how they found out about this place?" She glanced at Slicer, still stuck to her fingers. "I hate to do this in front of your brother, but you leave me no choice." She pulled her fingers back, and sliced the helmet in half.

"Brother! Big brother!" The younger brother continued to scream. "Dammit, we can still fight! Give us a new body! Give us a-" Deliylah hadn't even noticed the leaner man pick up Slicers sword, but she noticed when he brought it down on the blood seal with a sharp thunk. He then picked in back up, and began stabbing again and again and again.

"Just shut the hell up before you say something else you'll regret! Do you realize that the two of you almost killed our most precious human sacrifice? You don't have any clue what that means, do you?"

Edward and Deliylah watched in horror as the stranger continued ranting about 'revealing secrets' and 'wrecking plans' and eventually demanding that 42 say something despite the fact that the once-mobile armor had stopped shuddering and grown completely still.

"Envy. He's already dead." The woman spoke up, and only then did he realize. A grin spread across his face, one that made a chill run through Deliylah, as he stood up.

"Figures, that idiot had no backbone at all. Really, he's so weak it makes me sick." While he turned his attention to Edward, Deliylah pulled hers to the prospect of escaping. She barely turned away from the approaching new enemy, and looked toward the door. It took perhaps hours to enter the building, and Slicer had mentioned that the place was a maze to navigate. Both she and Edward were injured and losing blood rapidly. With her leg in the condition it was in, she wouldn't get far, and Ed swooned ever-so-slightly when he stood to challenge Envy.

It took a moment for the loud pop to sink in, but she registered Edward's automail arm going limp a moment after, and a second after that so did Envy and the yet unnamed woman. Envy bolted forward and sank his knee into Ed's solar plexus, letting him drop to the ground carelessly.

The two strangers had forgotten about Deliylah, who was still propped up against the column. Envy didn't forget about her for very long, however, as her gloved fist grazed his face.

He stumbled back away from Edward, his eyes wide with surprise. "What is with you guys and trying to fight? You can't even stand up properly," Envy pointed out, motioning to her injured leg.

Deliylah growled, rolling her shoulder, blood dripping from her fingertips. "I don't care what condition I'm in, you don't touch him." Her leg stung, as did her arm, but she didn't notice one bit.

Envy sighed, rubbing his forehead with two fingers in frustration. "Hey, Jealousy, gimme a hand, won't you?"

"Of course, Envy~" A female voice sounded from behind Deliylah.

Deliylah didn't have time to turn and see where the new voice was coming from before a boot smashed into her injured leg, sending Deliylah to the ground with a scream of pain. When she tried to sit up, her boot came back up and kicked her in the face. She felt her nose break, blood spurting from it. She struggled, pulling herself away from her new attacker who she couldn't even see. Just as she was losing consciousness after a brutal beating, she heard the first woman tell Jealousy to blow the whole place up. She looked up and saw a tattoo on the woman's stomach, and then her vision went black.

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AAAAAAAAND HERE IT IS! Now lets see how long it takes Chapter 13 to come out (i do hope less than 10 months but no promises)

Leave a review if you'd like, I love feedback!


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